I totaled my car, need to make a buying decision today HELP

[kalifornia]

I havent been researching cars so I don't know what is a good car for my wife. we are in san diego, drive mostly 20 mile and under trips, have SDG&E for electricity. She isn't particular about the cars size, it must be an automatic, must be under say $25K. I haven't been able to find out if SDG&E has reduced rates at night. Throw out some cars for me to consider. I've been reading about the hyundai ioniq phev, but I wonder if the electric rates here will swallow up any gas savings. thanks p.s. it looks like my electric bill says .15344 p kwh p.s. it doesn't have to be a hybrid.

[oil pan 4]

How much is the kwh base rate and how much is gas there?
In Commieforniastan fas still around $3 a gallon?

[ME_Andy]

I'd get a used Volt for $15-20k. Reliable and you will never need gas on such short trips. Even if your electric rate is on the expensive side, you will save versus buying has.

[kalifornia]

gas is around 3.50 , im assuming my base rate is 15 cents. I know our allowance is 267 kwh and we only use 161 in a month. I believe we can get a rate of .o9 cents for a monthly fee of $16, between 12am and 6am. I forgot to mention the wife wants new. I googled cheapest hybrd and one result was the hyundai ioniq. is there a way to estimate how many kwh it would take to charge the battery for a twenty mile drive? they say it can go 29 miles on a full charge--8.9 kwh battery

[ksa8907]

Also, a benefit of the volt/bolt is you get full high voltage system coverage from the mfg up to 6yrs 100k miles, more in cali but not sure how long. Maybe 8yrs 150k miles?

[ME_Andy]

Originally Posted by kalifornia

I forgot to mention the wife wants new.

Maybe she could be convinced when she sees you'll save ~$10k buying used.

A twenty mile drive would take about 5kWh, or 45¢ of electricity.

[kalifornia]

thanks ^ im a used kind of guy, i know in ca. we can get up to 8,500 dollars rebates if buying certain cars. so theres that.

[redpoint5]

I'd go with a Chevy Bolt if you have enough tax liability to get the full $7,500 federal rebate. CA has rebates on top of that too, and possibly your utility too. Electricity at your rate will be about 1/2 the cost per mile than gasoline.

GM has entered the phase out period for tax credits. Starting in April, the tax credit is reduced to $3750.

The Volt is a solid choice too, along with Prius Prime.

My hunch is EVs and plug-in hybrids will hold their value much better than before once tax incentives dry up and sales on new cars plummet.

[oil pan 4]

That government money doesn't carry over on the resale.
A lease turn in plug in asian hybrid can lose up to half it's value in 3 years at turn in time.
They typically lose up to $10,000 the first year alone.
Buying a new one is a waste of money.

[kalifornia]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Buying a new one is a waste of money.

does that include a new honda insight? I drove one and liked it