Living in Guatemala, there are no choices today and the only one in the short-term is apparently a Volvo. That’s the reason I bought a “temporary” gas vehicle. The economics said that instead of buying a $55,000 Volvo next month I could wait a year and buy something for $40k or less. Thus, buying something for $10k (which I did) actually saved me money.
I have been doing my homework/working on a plan. Today, the Tesla Model 3 seems like the amazing car. Not available here yet but everything about it puts it ahead of the alternatives. If nothing other that availability in Guatemala changes in the next year, I will probably buy one.
But, there is a lot more to learn. It seems that battery technology is what will drive what will be available in the next year. And, Tesla is really the only company that is seriously on track to produce enough batteries in the next 3 to 5 years.
There are clearly other players (KIA, Hyundai, VW and even Ford) that seem to be on their way to producing vehicles. But, there is nothing that indicates that they will be able to obtain/produce the batteries needed. On the other hand, Tesla is seriously producing batteries and scaling up in battery production.
My prediction is that a year from now the best choice will be the yet to be named little Tesla (many call it the Model 2 but that is unlikely to be the name). Tesla is just way far ahead of everyone else right now. In second place (if they can get their battery shit together) are KIA/Hyundai and VW. My personal preference would be VW but I don’t think they will get to the finish line on time.
Why not? Batteries. Tesla seems to have battery production under control. But, they are the only one.