Green Start-Up guide: Everything you need to know before buying a new EV

If you can't justify spending the tens of thousands of euros that manufacturers often ask for a new EV, you can check out our detailed used EV buying guide.

This way, you may still get a really nice battery-powered vehicle that will make you feel better about the way you transport yourself emissions-free.

The first step before setting sight on an EV is figuring out which brands sell in your country. One advantage of EVs is the fact that you don't have to worry about pollution taxes that may apply to imported fossil-powered cars, as battery-powered cars don't actively pollute the air.

You might, however, find yourself in a stressful situation when it comes to charging your car, as maybe not all charging stations will be working with an imported model that was designed for another market or charging speeds will be limited.

So, it's still best to stick to local offerings, which there should be plenty of. In Europe, for example, you have EVs from the likes of Tesla, Peugeot, Renault, BMW and even Dacia.

What you want versus what you need from a new EV can sometimes be conflicting, as I've mentioned in our used EV buying guide.

This is why you should keep a sight on your needs and where you are going to drive that EV for the most part.

This is important for more than one reason, as usually, a smaller fossil-powered car, such as a Fiat 500, for example, is great for the city, but it's no problem if you need to go for a few hundreds of kilometers every now and then, since the fuel economy is pretty good on such a car.

With EVs, however, it's not only a question of "I'm just transiting the city and then going for a 400 kilometers trip twice a year, so I don't need a big car". While technically, that mentality is great for saving space in traffic and in the parking lot, small EVs tend to have a range issue and what's more, batteries can't be charged instantly, like a gas tank can be filled.

Still, you definitely shouldn't buy the largest EV out there, but find a car that gives you some range, while not being the size of a living room, unless you absolutely need such a car.

The Tesla Model 3 should be a good contender in this category, as it is a fairly compact car with decent range, depending on the variant you go for. A standard range, for example, which goes for less than 45.000 euros before subsidies, can net you up to 491 kilometers on a charge.

Alternatively, you can opt for a slightly smaller, but still not claustrophobic Peugeot e-208, which goes for 35.500 euros and can go between charges for as long as 362 kilometers.

If you really need a bare minimum EV and you will only use it in the city or close to it, then the Dacia Spring is not a terrible option, as it is the cheapest one in Europe, at 20.800 euros.

However, it really is a city car and just that, with not a lot of space inside and a range of 230 kilometers. Oh, and the batteries take quite a bit to charge, so if you're anything serious about going on a long trip, this isn't an option.

For ride sharing in the city, though, this may be one of the best bets on the market of clean-power cars.

It seems like cars these days are getting recalled due to a variety of issues more often than in the past. It is in part due to the fact that they pack way more technology and electronics than ever, so the chances of something going wrong increase exponentially.

If you're aware of an active recall going on for a certain model of EV, you should probably hold off buying it for the moment and if you absolutely can't wait, just get another offering from a different brand.

A recall situation should definitely not be ignored, as it can mean a number of things, especially for a battery-powered car, such as faulty batteries or software, or engine failures and even... loose wheels? Yes, it seems that the first batch of Toyota's BZ4X had this weird issue that could have gone bad at any given moment. Luckily, this was a while ago and the problem didn't affect more than 2.700 vehicles or-so.

Even if you bought a vehicle, only for it to be recalled shortly after that, don't ignore it and take it in for service, which will be done for free and can definitely save your life and others'.

By skipping the motor, all I am saying is that, with few exceptions, looking at you, Dacia Spring, all EVs have more than powerful enough motors to move you from point A to B.

This is something that I've mentioned in the used buying guide for battery-powered cars and it is seems to be more and more of a fact with each new generation.

Some ICE-powered cars, especially those that are still being released today, have pretty lackluster engines, I mean, manufacturers put 1.0 liter engines even on SUVs now to comply with environment regulations. While it helps the planet, it won't really help you when trying to pick up speed fast or if you need to climb a hill, for example. If you have people in such a car and luggage, you can even see the car losing speed when going uphill, which can be annoying.

This is something that EV-owners don't have to think about, for the most part, as most battery-powered cars that I've written or heard about have more than plentiful electric motors.

Sure, those who want more power and faster accelerations are going to look at specific models, but for the average person who just wants a reliably-powerful EV, most options will be good enough.

I recently took a ride in a standard range Model 3 from Tesla and I was fairly impressed by how fast it was able to accelerate through the city, so from a power stand-point, EVs are really good.

As stated above, city-oriented small cars like the Spring are more the exception, rather than the rule, but then again, when being driven in the environment they were created for, they themselves are sufficient.

The design is one part where you may want to spend some time, as there are EVs that look minimalist and plain, such as the Tesla models, while European manufacturers, such as Peugeot, BMW and Skoda stick closer to a regular car design for the most part. This can make some drivers that don't like to drastically change the design of their car happy.

Depending on the model that you get, there might be some extra features that you might want to take into account, but the basics should be there by default, such as blind-spot monitoring in the side mirrors or some form of cruise control.

Things like emergency automatic braking or lane-assists may be optional on some vehicles, while other, more expensive models, can have it by default.

Whichever EV you choose to go for, don't forget to check if there are some subsidies given by your government, which can cut some of the cost and may allow you to get a higher trim for the same amount of money that you would have spent without taking advantage of government compensations.

Ultimately, no matter which new EV you choose to buy, you should be in for a treat, as you will be able to drive silently, with no direct emissions and, if you take proper care of the batteries, that EV can serve you perfectly fine for many years.

Also, depending on where you live, electricity is less expensive than gas, meaning that you will save quite a bit on fuel money on the long run.