13 Electric Vehicles You May Regret Buying

Whether you are a fan of electric vehicles or a diehard gearhead, the electric revolution is here. Most major automotive manufacturers now build at least one EV, with many set to produce solely electric vehicles shortly.

Despite the growing number of options on the market, a few duds are out there. We will likely regret buying EVs with poor range, ugly designs, or a general lack of quality.

We’ve examined 13 of the biggest offenders on the market and brought them together in this list. We’ve based our selection on the price versus quality of the cars, their lack of performance, and the range they offer. Plus, we’ve thrown in a few older EVs to mix things up a bit.

Mazda MX-30

On paper, there is a lot to like about the Mazda MX-30. It is a compact SUV with lavish styling inside and a fresh exterior. Mazda also used eco-friendly materials within the cabin to further boost its appeal, yet the MX-30 is hamstrung by Mazda’s decision to sell the compact SUV only in California.

Strong sales in California could have led to Mazda introducing the MX-30 nationwide. However, Mazda sold just 324 MX-30s in 2022, and the number dropped to 100 units in 2023. The fact that the MX-30 only had 100 miles of range also didn’t help its cause.

Honda Fit EV

Electric cars are slowly getting more and more exciting. Just look at the radical Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Ioniq 6, or even the new Renault 5 EV with its retro design. In the past, though, there have been some stinkers, and the Honda Fit EV is one of their biggest offenders.

Honda introduced the Fit EV in 2014, providing an electric alternative to the gasoline-powered version of the car. Its introduction didn’t go well, with Car and Driver saying, “The Fit EV loses everything we love about that car and replaces it with a higher price tag.” That says everything you need to know about the Fit EV and its cause isn’t helped by its terrible 82 miles of range.

Th!nk City

The looks of the Th!nk City alone is enough to put you off buying one, but delve a little deeper into this tiny EV, and you will find things are even worse. The Th!nk City was an offshoot of the Ford Th!nk Mobility, with a 24 kWh battery and 34-hp with 66 lb-ft of torque. Ford hoped it would become a popular electric city car.

It had a 100-mile range, good enough for city and town use. But for anything else, the City was useless, and it had one of the most unusual designs of any EV. It was not helping the Th!nk City was that Ford retailed the car at over $25,000, meaning it was hardly the bargain of the century.

Honda e

While unavailable in the United States, the Honda e was an attractive small electric car. The design of the e was exemplary, with Honda basing it on the original Honda Civic, and the interior was just as spectacular. But what let the Honda down was its high price tag for a minimal range.

Honda sold the e for around $40,000, but the tiny EV had a range of only about 130 miles. Honda tried to say that this was the most needed range for the average driver, but this limited range ruled out the e for most customers. Longer-distance travel was out of the question, and after slow sales, Honda discontinued the e in 2023.

Nissan Altra

You are likely to have never heard of the Nissan Altra. But it was the first production electric car to use lithium-ion batteries, and Nissna used the lessons learned with the Altra to create the Leaf. In reality, the Altra is just a Nissan Ambien with a new powertrain. Still, Nissan never intended for the Altra to be marketed to the public due to the high cost of lithium-ion batteries at the time.

Nissan did, however, create a limited production run of the Altra, which it then handed down to Nissan employees and a few local utility companies and councils. Their one complaint about the Altra was its sub-par design, so Nissan went boldly with the first-generation Leaf.

Mitsubishi i-MiEV

The idea of a minor, compact EV for inner city use is a perfectly sound one, and in the early 2010s, Mitsubishi decided to try and create its version. Enter the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, a quirky-looking electric car with an unusual yet clean design that it would produce from 2011-2017.

Despite its reasonable production run and versatile size, the i-MiEV’s range was minimal. In the United States, it had just 62 miles of range; in its native Japan, it was only slightly better, with 100 miles on offer. The i-MiEV was classed as a Kei car, so its sale in the United States was never going to work, and it was much better suited to its home market than the US market.

Ford Focus Electric

When Ford developed the Focus Electric, the decision to play it safe with its design was deliberate. Many attributed the failure of the earlier GM EV1 to its radical looks, so Ford opted to create an electric version of the Focus that looked just like a standard Focus.

Ford sold the Focus Electric in the United States from 2011 to 2018, but it was never the sales success that the Blue Oval had hoped it would be. In 2016, Ford sold just 61 Focus Electrics, and in the United Kingdom, Ford failed to sell a single one throughout its production run. There are 24 registered in the UK, but all of them belong to Ford itself.

GM EV1

The GM EV1 was undoubtedly an unusual-looking car, but that isn’t the main reason for its failure. The EV1 was in response to the California mandate stipulating that the major automotive manufacturers had to increase the production and sale of zero-emissions vehicles. The EV1 was GM’s effort, with it producing 137-hp and boasting 140 miles of range.

Despite GM’s reasonable early effort, the legislation for zero-emission vehicles fell into disarray despite being a reasonable early effort. The major manufacturers, including GM, pushed back on it, and the knock-on effect was that EV development was set back by some years. Without that pushback, who knows where GM could have taken the EV1 and where electric vehicles could be today?

BMW i3

The BMW i3 is one of the German manufacturer’s early attempts at creating a compact EV. Despite its size, the i3 has an excellent amount of space inside. What hurt the i3 was that it cost around $50,000 when new, and all you had under the hood was a 42.2 kWh battery pack.

This added up to around 153 miles of range, but BMW did make a range extender available for the i3. However, that range extender required gasoline, defeating the point of buying a car without carbon emissions. The i3 was BMW’s excellent early attempt at an EV but a misstep compared to what rival Tesla could offer at the time.

Lucas Electric Taxi

The unusual Lucas Electric Taxi was excellent as a concept. The Taxi had a 100-mile range and a top speed of 60 mph, and as the name suggests, it was designed for London. Once the batteries were empty, they could be swapped out at a garage, depot, or taxi rank, and then the Taxi would bTaxi its way again.

Yet the concept never worked. The range might have been a limiting factor, but what hurt the Taxi was that no one put money into the project. An electric taxi in the 1970s seemed like a crazy idea, but in 2024, the concept of a vehicle like the Lucas makes perfect sense.

Honda EV Plus

The quirky Honda EV Plus was another EV that looked great on paper but failed due to external factors. Introduced in 1997, the EV Plus was Honda’s first EV, and like the GM EV1, it was designed to comply with the new California Air Resources Board legislation for zero-emissions vehicles.

The EV Plus had a 66-hp drivetrain under the hood and range for up to 100 miles, but it would fail for the same reasons as the GM EV1. With the mandate slackened, Honda gave up on the EV Plus, recalled every example it had leased to customers, and set about destroying them. The EV Plus is yet another sign of “what might have been” without the mandate’s failure.

Renault Fluence ZE

Despite the poor name, the Renault Fluence ZE was a big step for the French manufacturer when launched at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. The stylish sedan had an electric range of 115 miles with a top speed of 84 mph, making it ideal for highway driving.

But there were issues with the Fluence ZE. The limited 115-mile range meant longer distance trips were out of the question. But the more significant failing was that Renault leased the batteries for the EVs, which isn’t a terrible idea as it provides money/defray the cost of its electric cars upfront. It becomes a bad idea when the company you lease the batteries from goes out of business.

Citroen e-C4 X

One thing that makes the Citroen e-C4 X a poor choice of electric car is depreciation. CarWow says that in the U.K., the smart-looking crossover has depreciated from £25,891 ($32,872.51) for a one-year-old car with 10,000 miles to just £17,458 ($22,165.55).

This massive price drop means you will only make a little of your money back if you wish to sell your electric Citroen e-C4 X in the future. That is a massive shame, as the e-C4 X is a great, solid choice for an electric car that is comfortable, relaxing to drive, and has good mileage.