I spent about a year or two researching EV's before purchasing my own in 2022-
What I found was three Ev's that stood out the most as the 'best' in my opinion.
In 1st place we have The Hyundai Ioniq, which has a range of 125~150 (2017-19/20-22) The Ioniq has a very high efficiency, being the #1 record holder for most efficient EV for many years when it came out, only recently losing the title to a newer Tesla model, just barely. This Efficiency has been confirmed to be about 4~6.0 Mi/per Kw/h, making this EV one of the best for someone who not only wants to save money on the purchase of their car, but save even more money on recharging compared to other EV's. It has a very fast charge to boot, fully charging up it's relatively small battery of 28 kw/h in just about 20~ minutes from empty. I've also found that the Ioniq's battery seems to hold its health for far far longer than almost every other EV on the market- out of the hundred or so I looked through before buying my own, only 1 had about 20% battery health degradation, with every other one having perfect health. I recommend the '17~19' models since they are generally a few thousand dollars cheaper than the bigger battery models, and despite the claimed range of 125 miles per charge, get 150 miles on average due to their insane efficiency.
In 2nd and 3rd (basically the same ranking to be honest) are the Focus EV and the EV Golf, which have 115 Miles and 120 miles respectively per charge. They both charge at a slower rate of about 40~ minutes for a full charge, and compared to the Ioniq were built as 'EV Conversions' meaning they took a gasoline powered car and just slapped a battery and electric engine in it- unlike the Ioniq which was built from the ground up to have an EV model- meaning they are less efficient and especially with the focus built to a lower quality standard in general.
These are still great choices for someone on a budget however, as they are generally much cheaper than an Ioniq and are still quite more affordable to drive than a gasoline powered car. I can't vouch for the battery health however, due to their rarity, and lack of sources for how the battery holds up (dealerships usually dont advertise it and the dash that tells you the health is fairly hidden, unlike on more EV-specific vehicles)
Cheap EV's I would recommend against:
The Leaf, I know I know, you can get a leaf for dirt cheap- as cheap as some of the cheapest gas powered cars on the market these days- however, unless you really don't care about range, looks, battery health and charge speeds- I'd recommend avoiding them, since they have been cursed since their inception to be chained to the ChaDamo charging port- which has always been less popular than the CCS standard and as of about 2020- has basically been declared dead, as almost all the main charge port manufacturers have announced plans to discontinue Chadamo support on their new chargers and will stop repairing broken ones- meaning the days for Chadamo charge port equipped vehicles are numbered. So that means you'll only be able to charge on slow as molasses Granny plugs at home- over the course of 24 hours or more per charge. So I'd only recommend a leaf if you are REALLY cash strapped and have a home to charge in- otherwise it's destined to be a dead weight which cant drive anywhere due to its extremely limited range and no charging stations in the near future. Oh and the battery degradation on the Leaf is one of the worst if not the worst in the entire car industry, due to every model until the redesign having absolutely no battery protection- no cooling and no heating whatsoever, along with no buffer either.
Fiat 500 Ev, This little thing is extremely cheap, but the reason for that is it's pitiful range and lack of a fast charger, meaning you can only go to places within 20~ ish miles of home- and then when you get home you'll be spending about 16~24 hours recharging before you can go anywhere else, that ontop of it being extremely small makes it uncomfortable to ride in if you are tall and incapable of getting any large amount of groceries whatsoever.
Bolt Ev, This starts out looking like a fantastic deal, doesn't it? Well bad news, while it looks great on the surface, with a low competitive cost, under the surface is a rot at the core of every Chevy vehicle... First off, the massive range that this ev gets compared to similarly priced cars makes a lot of people immediately want to go and buy this vehicle- however, due to Chevy's shitty manufacturing quality standards- the Bolts have some of the worst degradation in the entire industry, only being comparable to the Leaf, but most likely worst- since it's not caused due to just lack of protections on the battery, but caused by a manufacturer error which means every single bolt ever made, was built with broken batteries that at any moment could go from full health to 10% health, or less- I've seen bolts with less than 10 miles at a near full charge- being near damn useless. Oh and dont forget, that huge range comes at a price- it's very inefficient compared to most other ev's on the market, from what I hear it gets 2~4 miles per kwh, and that huge battery takes quite a long time to charge even on a fast charger- being around 1 hour to fully charge up. That alongside Chevy's price cutting penny pinching process which is the design philosophy of "how cheaply can we possibly put this together for?" leading to a lot of cheap feeling interior and exterior materials, this EV is a trap- and I'd recommend everyone stay away from it due to those battery issues. Unless you like having to deal with it being at the dealership for recalls on its battery for the rest of your ownership.
what??? How else am I supposed to reference it, the preamble was just a joke about how AI have been castrated against using it to the point where when asked questions about how acceptable it is to use the N-Word, even if the world would literally end in nuclear hellfire if it's not said- they would rather the world end than allow it being said.