Gadgetory

it wasn't too long ago that if you owned an electric car you probably lived in Florida golf Talaat and no longer worked my things have changed I'm Brian Cooley with a top five list I probably couldn't have done even a year ago top five electric cars from major manufacturers that are all ready for primetime we're gonna rank these guys by my impressions I've driven four of the five also by their range on a charge and their miles per gallon equivalent that's kind of the MPG rating for an electric car we'll also tell you where they fit on the price scale let's go number five the oddly named Mitsubishi I'm Eve range of 62 miles mbte 112 this one barely makes the cut because I don't know that American consumers are ever going to embrace the looks of this electric easter-egg it also feels uncomfortably close to a golf cart when you're driving it but I gotta say it is fun to drive like your perennial E approaching the 18th hole and it costs under 30 grand plus your rabbit will never complain about the ear room number for the smart electric drive range of 87 miles MPGe a hundred this is the newest car on the list it'll also be the cheapest with an MSRP around 25 grand but I'm mostly excited about it as sort of a redemption for the smart car which should have always been an electric car I mean with its current gas engine it's truly one of the awful driving experiences in the world this conversion may absolve many sins number three the Nissan Leaf range of about 73 miles MPG e99 the leaf is the Prius of v's not in sales but in its charmingly odd look urban nature and strong execution you'd be surprised by its luxurious Drive manners cool cabin tech and smart phone app but I slotted at number three because the looks are just a little too Barney and it lacks the fast charger we're about to see in car number two which is the Ford Focus evie number two by a whisker ahead of the leaf range of 76 miles MPGe 105 forty grand it makes once a four-hour focus but the car looks great leverages the underpinnings of a great compact car already and has a sporty Erdem meaner than the leaf it's also got this fast charged technology that can do a full charge in three to four hours on a 240 outlet that can mean hours left on the nipple then against its competitors before I get to number one I can tell you it's not going to be the Chevy Volt or the Fisker Karma you see those are not really electric cars in the pure sense their range extenders they use a combination of electricity to drive them but also gas engine to generate electricity I call that a separate list for another time except there aren't five of them to rank the number one electric car ready for primetime without a doubt has to be the Tesla Model S range of 140 miles on up MPGe of 89 and it's the first evie to win Car of the Year it looks hot goes like hell has great range and can be optioned up to around 265 miles on a charge check out its 17-inch central cabin screen rewrites the rules of cabin tech on the other hand the Model S starts close to 60 grand and if you want the 265 my learn now you're pushing 80 and up still this is the car that doesn't just accomplish an electric conversion but sets a new level for the bar for more cool top fives on high tech cars check out CNET on cars at CNET on cars.com i'm brian coulis thanks for watching