Is an EV right for your family?

There's a lot of talk out there right now about climate change (hello, scorching temperatures , raging wildfires , and more and more hurricanes). As a parent, you may be curious about how you can help slow climate change so your kids can have a better and healthier future. One way some parents are doing this is by giving up (or cutting back) on gasoline and buying an electric vehicle (EV). But can an EV fit your multiple car seats and get everybody in your family where they need to go each day? The truth? It depends.

I’ve covered electric vehicles for more than a decade as the digital director of Popular Mechanics and for publications such as The Atlantic, Heatmap, and Outside. And I’m an owner, too: My wife and I have driven a Tesla Model 3 sedan as our only vehicle for five years now. We now have an infant daughter, so I know a few things about driving an EV with an expanding family. I also spoke with Brian Moody, the executive editor of Kelly Blue Book ; and Emily Thomas, the director of vehicle safety for Consumer Reports and also a mom of two young children. The truth is, there are a lot of factors to consider when investing in an EV for your clan. Here's how to know if making the switch to EV is right for your family.

Key Takeaways

• If you aren't quite ready for a battery-only car, a hybrid might be a good fit.
• Before you buy, you'll want to think about where you'll be able to charge it.
• Test drive the cars you're considering to ensure they have the safety features that are most important for your family, plus the space to accomodate your kiddos' car seats.

The difference between EVs, plug-in hybrids, and hybrids

When it comes to battery-powered vehicles, there are a few different choices – and it's a good idea to understand the differences before you head to the dealership.  If you're an electric-curious parent, here are your options:

Full battery-powered EVs: These cars don't use gasoline at all, ever. They're powered by a large lithium-ion battery pack, typically located along the bottom of the car. The energy stored in the charged battery powers the vehicle.

Traditional hybrids: These cars use an electric motor to boost your car’s gas mileage, but never need to be plugged in. If you just want to pay less for gas or lower your carbon footprint, but don’t want to have to think about plugging in your car, a normal hybrid might be right.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV): Like the typical hybrid, it has both electric and gas power. The difference is that you can plug in the car to recharge its battery. Once the battery is full, you use that electric power for gasoline-free driving for as long as it lasts. When the battery runs out, the car automatically reverts to running on the gas engine. PHEVs have smaller batteries than EVs, so you’ll typically get just 30 or 40 miles of electric-only driving, compared to 200 miles or more from a regular EV.

You'll usually pay more for EVs up front, but tax credits might help to bring down the overall cost. Many EVs are cheap to lease, and if you own one, it generally costs less over time because electricity is cheaper than gas for most people.

Is an EV right for you?

A whopping 88 percent of BabyCenter parents still drive a gasoline car, according to a July 2024 BabyCenter survey of 494 parents. But if you're wondering if it’s time for you to ditch your gasoline-burning kiddo-hauler and join the battery-powered future, the answer depends on a few things:

Are you going to be able to charge it?

The most important consideration by far is: Where are you going to charge your family vehicle? If you can plug it in at your house or apartment building, then your home becomes your gas station – say goodbye to the chore of stopping to pump gas all the time (while your baby has a meltdown in their car seat). Most EVs nowadays can go up to 200 miles on a full charge, meaning their batteries can power daily commutes, daycare drop off , work, baby music classes, and kids' soccer practices. But a full EV battery takes a while to charge (up to 10 hours in some cases on a home charger, and perhaps 30 minutes or more on a fast public charger), so if you can’t charge it at home, then life with a true EV is dicier.

I can charge at work, for example, and let the battery slowly refill during my 9 to 5. But when I go for long stretches working from home without visiting the office, I must rely on visiting public fast-charging stations. That’s a time-consuming errand a lot of parents don’t want to deal with – it means driving to your nearest fast-charger, which is unlikely to be as close as the corner gas station, and taking 20 to 30 minutes to charge from 10% batterty back up to 80 or 90%. “What are you going to do with that time while charging?” Thomas said. “And [let’s say], you have the baby there, too. Is it baby's nap time ? How are you going to occupy them for however long it takes to even charge it a little bit?”

When you have a family, waiting somewhere to charge your car for hours on end – or plugging it in and leaving it – is probably not feasible. So you'll probably want to have a charger installed at home so you can, at the very least, keep it charged while you're in town. Most chargers are around $500 to $700 to install, says Thomas, not counting the cost of the charger itself. Tesla’s , for example, costs $450.

Do you drive a lot?

If you really want to know whether an EV is right for your family, be honest with yourself about your driving needs. If you’re a super-commuter who lives far from your office, or if your family takes a lot of road trips, you may not be ready for a full EV just yet, since you’ll be dealing with highway charging stops that require more time than the trusty pit stop to pump gas. But if you live in a standalone home where you can charge the vehicle in your garage or driveway — and you do most of your driving within a few dozen miles of home – then an EV will actually make life easier . (Just imagine if you woke up every morning with a full tank of gas!).

A PHEV might be ideal if, for example, you live pretty close to where you work or to your child's daycare. Its 30-some miles of electric range means you’ll use the gas engine sometimes, but it is enough to complete the round trip to your office and daycare, and you can finish many of your everyday driving chores without burning any gas. It’s a nice starter EV if you’re really worried about the charging situation, since the gas engine kicks in as soon as the battery runs out. (And if you don’t have time to deal with charging on a particular day, no problem – you’ll just drive on gasoline like normal.)

Where do you live?

You'll want to think about where you live, too. In California, where a large number of people drive electric cars, there are lots of public charging stations and also service stations for EV-specific brands, like Tesla and Rivian. If you live in a less urban place where fewer people own EVs, it might be more difficult to have your vehicle repaired.

Also, extreme temperatures can affect an EV's battery’s performance and decrease the car’s range. So you might think twice about an EV if you live in Minnesota or in the heart of the Arizona desert, where running the air conditioning or heat to keep your car temperatures safe for kids will use up a lot of battery life.

What is your budget?

You might have heard that EVs are more expensive than gas-powered or hybrid alternatives – not great news if you’re watching your wallet (after all, babies are expensive these days!). But the truth is, it's a little more complicated than that.

You'll usually pay more for EVs up front, but tax credits might help to bring down the overall cost. Many EVs are cheap to lease, and if you own one, it generally costs less over time because electricity is cheaper than gas for most people.

Moody says if you're on a budget but curious about getting an EV, think about looking at the used electric vehicles that are starting to hit the market. Those vehicles will have a reduced mileage range, since batteries slowly fade over time. However, let’s say you’re a typical two-car family: you can use your gas or hybrid vehicle to accomplish any of your family’s long-distance driving, while you can use your EV for in-town driving while slashing how much you spend on gas. Plus, Moody says, the current rules allow buyers to get a tax credit for buying used, too.

Are you okay with new technology?

Compared to the gasoline-powered vehicle you’ve always driven, an EV is more different than you might think. You refuel it differently, typically at home instead of stopping at the gas station. Finding charging stations on a road trip is pretty simple, but it’s still takes a bit more planning compared to just pulling off the highway when you see a Texaco or a Love’s. EV life can be better – but you’re a parent with a million things to think about already! So you should ask yourself whether you'll be able to keep up with remembering to charge it when it needs to be charged.

Do the options fit your family's needs?

Finally, Thomas says, make sure the car you’re test driving can easily fit your car seats (bring them with you while car shopping and try fitting them all in before you buy it). And check that the model includes as many advanced safety features as possible. You'll want to look for cars with things known as accident-avoidance technology (like automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection), but also rear seat belt reminders and rear occupant alerts to make sure kids are not accidentally left in a car.

Ultimately, the decision to go EV or hybrid has a lot to do with your needs as a family. There's no one right decision, but asking yourself these questions before you make a purchase can help you think through the right choice for you and your little ones.