[El Rayo]

With that short commute, definitely get an EV. Keep one of your fossil burners for weekend trips.

With yours and your wife's driving records you need not worry about getting into an accident.

The selection of electric cars are growing. Nissan Leaf is mentioned earlier. I don't know if all of the triplets - Mitsubishi iMiEV, Citroen C-Zero, Peugeot iOn - are available in the US, but they are worth searching for. I've had the pleasure of driving the iMiEV and it fills your requirements.

Maintenance for an EV is almost non existent; there are no oil or filters to be replaced, no exhaust pipe or catalytic converter. The brakes needs some attention as they are rarely used. Instead of transferring the moving energy into heat in the brake disks, regenerative braking puts the energy back into the battery, an advantage for the downhill parts of your commute. In the winter you will like the electric heater, it works almost instantly.

Th!nk NEV mentioned earlier share only the name with the two seater, highway capable Th!nk City which is assembled in Elkhart, IN. The City could be an alternative if you don't need 4 seats for the daily commute. The lithium battery for the City is made in the US.

I've been driving a 2000 model Th!nk City since 2003, still with the original nicad battery.