With car prices jumping in the last two years, people might be asking: how can you get the most for your money?
Well, electric could be the way to go.
"This is sort of on the ground floor of a huge change," said Bill Howard, a car analyst with Forbes Wheels.
More automakers are adding electric vehicles to their lineups with many expected to be on the road by the end of 2024.
Howard says the one that could be the biggest game-changer is the ID 4 from Volkswagen.
"Once it's being built in the US from Tennessee, we'll see the price down almost $20,000," said Howard, putting the price around $39,000, several thousand less than comparable models like the Ford Mustang Mach-E at about $43,000 and the Tesla Model Y at about $50,000.
The real question though is how much will these electric vehicles cost compared to their gas models?
Take the Hyundai Kona with a base price of $22,000. The fully electric version, the Hyundai Kona Electric, starts at $35,000. That's a difference of $13,000.
"The net difference is pretty much covered by the federal and sometimes state tax credits you'll get," said Howard.
You could qualify for $7,500 from the federal government, with new incentives in the work from the Biden Administration.
Plus, in Arizona, there are also tax exemptions as well as incentives like reduced registrations costs, waived emissions testing, even credits for installing your own charging station. Those could save you an additional $1,000 and $7,500, and possibly more.
Howard says no matter the case, buying electric now could mean more access to incentives like the use of the HOV lane when you're not carrying passengers. But, that is something that is sure to go away once more people start going electric.
Click here to see what cars qualify for incentives.
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