Going electric was not a difficult decision.

In the Pacific Northwest, the power grid is mostly supplied by hydroelectric dams and nuclear power plants. That means that every electric car in the Greater Seattle area either runs on water or uranium.

When searching for a company vehicle to replace an aging Land Rover, I immediately thought EV. The search was narrowed down to the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Bolt and BMW i3. All relatively similar in terms of size, with subtle differences in quickness, range and reliability. Visual uniqueness quickly became the deciding factor among the selected options, turning away from the Leaf and Bolt.

Over the course of the next few days, I determined which model year had the best value, preferred interior finishes, and whether the optional onboard generator was worth considering.

Elektra is a 2018 BMW i3S acquired May 2021.

Although I really enjoy the 3 manual transmissions in our fleet – for our next electric vehicle, I’ll be tracking the improvements to range, reliability and battery resistance to winter temperatures.

This list is a good resource for comparing performance from an ever-increasing variety of EV manufacturers.