RoadChoice Vehicle match Car Match · USD 39
One household, 268 miles a week, no driveway
A shortlist built from how you actually drive, not from what the spec sheets compare.
You came in asking which electric vehicle to buy. The honest answer is that your week does not currently support one, for a reason that has nothing to do with the cars and everything to do with where you park. That is a temporary condition, not a permanent one, so this shortlist is built to be right for the next three years rather than forever.
Without home charging, a full EV turns your two supermarket trips a week into two charging errands and adds roughly forty minutes of standing around. A plug-in hybrid covers 84 percent of your weekly mileage on electricity from a workplace charger alone, with no change to how your week runs.
Profile
Your actual week
Reconstructed from the twelve weeks of odometer photos and calendar entries you supplied. This is the document that does the work. Everything after it follows from these nine rows.
| Trip | Frequency | Distance | Constraint it creates |
|---|---|---|---|
| School run, both children | 10 per week | 4.2 miles | Two child seats in the second row, doors that open in a tight bay |
| Ada to the hospital | 5 per week | 11 miles | Parking garage with a 6 foot 2 height bar |
| Chidi to the site office | 3 per week | 23 miles | Occasional muddy boots and a rolled plan tube |
| Supermarket | 2 per week | 3 miles | Full boot, folding rear seats useful |
| Saturday sport | 1 per week | 16 miles | Two kit bags and often a third child |
| Parents, Colorado Springs | 2 per month | 142 miles | Highway, and the reason range anxiety is real for you |
| Ski weekend | 6 per winter | 196 miles | Snow tyres and a roof box, mountain grades |
| Airport | 4 per year | 28 miles | Four suitcases |
| Camping | 2 per summer | 310 miles | The only trip a small car genuinely cannot do |
Powertrain
What each option does to your week
Scored on your week, not in general. The same table for a household with a driveway would put full electric first by a wide margin.
| Powertrain | Your weekly cost | The long trips | The parking problem |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plug-in hybrid | USD 21 | No change. Petrol takes over | Solved. Charge at Ada's work |
| Full hybrid | USD 34 | No change | Not applicable |
| Petrol | USD 52 | No change | Not applicable |
| Full electric | USD 17 | One stop each way in winter | Two public charging errands a week |
| Diesel | USD 44 | Best of the five | Not applicable |
Weekly cost at Denver averages: USD 0.14 per kWh at the hospital chargers, USD 3.35 per gallon, your 268 mile week.
Shortlist
Three vehicles, and why each made the cut
Every one of these clears the 6 foot 2 garage bar, takes two child seats across the second row with an adult between them, and has an electric range above 34 miles. Prices are used market, Denver metro, September 2026.
| Vehicle | Price seen | Electric range | Why it is here | Where it annoys you |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kia Sorento PHEV, 2023 | USD 38,900 | 32 miles | Three rows when the third child appears, and a height of 5 foot 7 | Electric range is the shortest of the three, and it is thirsty once depleted |
| Toyota RAV4 Prime, 2022 | USD 36,400 | 42 miles | Best electric range, best reliability record, covers the whole week on the charger | Boot is the smallest here. The camping trip needs a roof box |
| Volvo XC60 Recharge, 2022 | USD 40,100 | 35 miles | The nicest place to spend 11 miles twice a day, and the best seats for Ada's back | Most expensive to service by a clear margin, and the app is poor |
RAV4 Prime
It is the highest scoring on the criteria you weighted most heavily, it has the range to run your whole week on the hospital charger, and it is the easiest of the three to sell in three years.
Sorento PHEV
The only one on the list with a third row. If that is a real possibility inside three years, the calculation changes and this moves to first.
XC60 Recharge
Seats are genuinely better and the commute is 110 miles a week. Worth the service premium if that is what the money is for, and not otherwise.
Trade-offs
What you are giving up, stated plainly
Every shortlist hides its compromises in the footnotes. These are the four that will actually irritate you, ranked by how often you will meet them.
| Compromise | How often you meet it | How bad | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plug-in hybrids carry both a battery and an engine, so the boot floor is higher | Every supermarket trip | Minor | None needed. Check it at the test drive with your actual shopping |
| Once the battery is empty, fuel economy is worse than a plain hybrid | The two Colorado Springs trips a month | Moderate | Accept it. It is 30 hours of driving a year |
| Charging at Ada's work depends on a policy you do not control | Continuously | Serious | Ask HR in writing before you buy. This is the single question that could change the recommendation |
| Used plug-in hybrid battery health is not standardised | Once, at purchase | Moderate | Insist on a battery state of health report. Section 05 |
Action
Before you spend anything
- This week
Get the charger policy in writing
One email to Ada's facilities team. Is staff charging available on an ongoing basis, is there a cost, and is there a time limit. If the answer is no, send this report back and it will be re-run as a full hybrid comparison at no charge.
- Before viewing
Measure the garage bar and your child seats
Take a tape to the hospital garage and to the two seats. Every vehicle here fits on paper. Paper has never once installed a child seat.
- At the test drive
Drive the actual route, not the dealer loop
Ask to take the car on the 11 mile hospital run at the time you would normally drive it. Any dealer who refuses is telling you something useful.
- Before offering
Battery state of health, in writing
For any used plug-in hybrid, request a dealer diagnostic showing battery capacity against original. Under 85 percent, walk. This is the used PHEV equivalent of a service history.
- At purchase
Check the incentive, do not assume it
Used clean vehicle credits change by model year, price cap and your own tax position. Confirm eligibility for the specific VIN before you agree a price, not after.
- Is staff charging confirmed in writing?
- Does a child seat fit behind Ada's driving position?
- Does the car clear 6 foot 2 with a roof rack fitted?
- Battery state of health above 85 percent?
- Full service history with the hybrid system inspected?
- Is the used clean vehicle credit confirmed for this VIN?