(September 19, 2019) ATLANTA — Whether a new-car shopper's motivation for buying an electric vehicle (EV) is environmental, political or financial, choices abound now more than ever before in the marketplace. With more than 50 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery-electric vehicle (BEV) models available today, many new-car shoppers need help navigating the terms to master and information to digest among the choices in this continuously growing vehicle category.

With that in mind, the editors at Autotrader recently scored currently available new vehicles that feature a plug, ultimately naming the 12 Best Electric Vehicles for 2019.

"There are a lot of very good electric vehicles available at a wide variety of price points today, and the technology for EVs continues to grow and evolve," said Brian Moody, executive editor for Autotrader.

"EV shoppers should remember that despite an often-higher initial purchase price when compared to gasoline-powered cars of the same size, for the most part, EVs are more rewarding to drive and require less maintenance than a traditional automobile."

Beyond the plug-in qualifier and 2019 on-sale date, Autotrader editors considered some objective factors including maximum range, electric-only range (for PHEVs) and price. Other factors, such as drivability and value, were a bit more subjective in nature. Categories were scored on a 1-to-5 scale, with 5 being the high score.

Vehicles were not ranked in this list because the group of considered vehicles is so diverse, consisting of PHEVs and EVs, luxury and non-luxury, as well as cars and CUVs. Every pick earned a combined average score of at least 3.8 out of a possible 5.