With the national average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gas hitting the $5 mark just over a month ago, that last wallet-draining fill-up may finally have been the draw that broke the camel’s bank. Now you may be considering trading that pump hose for an electrical cord to drive down your commuting costs. You’ve come to the right place, cash-strapped car shopper, because in Cars.com’s most popular article of the past week, we’ve crunched the numbers to determine the 11 cheapest electric vehicles you can buy right now.
Related: 10 Biggest News Stories of the Month: Ford Maverick Gets More Mileage Than Tesla Model Y, Model 3
These inexpensive electrics are listed according to base price plus destination charge, but you’ll want to take other factors into consideration, such as each vehicle’s maximum driving range relative to your needs, eligibility (or lack thereof) for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, and body style. Our roster of hatchbacks, pickup trucks and SUVs ranges in price from $26,595 to nearly $45,000, and ranges in range from 100 miles to 320 miles. The cheapest electric cars include the Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV, Nissan Leaf, Mini Cooper SE Hardtop, Mazda MX-30, Hyundai Kona Electric, Kia Niro, Ford F-150 Lightning, Volkswagen ID.4, Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5.
For the specifics on each model to help you in your search, follow the link below to the No. 1 news story of the week.
Meanwhile, in its debut appearance on the countdown, Cars.com reviewer Aaron Bragman’s comprehensive critique of the 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500’s bar-raising High Country trim scales the face of our countdown to reach the fourth-place spot. The High Country is the highest-priced Silverado you can buy for the 2022 model year — and it’s also the best application of Chevy’s half-ton truck since its model-year 2019 redesign. When the overhauled Silverado 1500 arrived, there was a lot to love, specifically its attention to fixing shortcomings that plagued the previous-generation truck. But it was unfortunate for the Bow-Tie brand that, in the ensuing years, both the Ram 1500 and Ford F-150 had upped the interior ante to luxurious levels — and that was an area where the Silverado had stood pat, or maybe even gotten a little worse. With the rise of the High Country, the Silverado need no longer settle for the bronze.
“Despite a slight pandemic-related delay, the answer has arrived in the form of the new 2022 Silverado 1500, which sports an interior that no longer relegates the Chevy to second-tier status,” Bragman writes in his review. “The new cabin goes a long way toward making the Chevy fully on par with its contemporaries.”
For Bragman’s full review of the 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 High Country, follow the link below to the No. 4 article on this week’s countdown.
Beyond that, we’ve got headlines on the Ford Bronco, Honda CR-V, Lexus LX 600, Subaru Legacy and Outback, and much more — so don’t stop reading till the digits double. Here are the top 10 news stories Cars.com readers couldn’t get enough of in the past week:
1. Here Are the 11 Cheapest Electric Vehicles You Can Buy
2. Should You Buy Now or Wait to Save on a Car?
3. Which 3-Row SUVs Offer Captain’s Chairs?
4. 2022 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 High Country Review: Chevy Completes Its Pickup
5. 2022 Ford Bronco Raptor Review: A Better Bronco in Nearly Every Way
6. 2023 Honda CR-V: More Power, More Room, More Hybrid
7. 2022 Lexus LX 600 Ultra Luxury: Families Beware
8. What’s the Best New-Car Deal for July 2022?
9. 2023 Subaru Legacy, Outback Pricier After Updates
10. 2022 Cars.com American-Made Index: Which Cars Are the Most American?
Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.
By Fred Meier and Brian Normile