Zap of Regret: 10 Electric Vehicles Drivers Would Unplug and Forget

Electric vehicles promised a revolution silent rides, zero emissions, and freedom from the gas pump. But not every EV lives up to the hype. For every Tesla success story, there are drivers stuck with poor range, sluggish charging, or tech that just… didn’t age well.
Some of these cars looked futuristic on launch day now they’re reminders that not every spark turns into a flame.

Here are 10 electric vehicles that left owners wishing they’d just stayed plugged into the past.

First-Generation Nissan Leaf

Okay, I gotta start here because it was so many people’s first taste of an EV. And it was… fine? For like, a year. But that battery degradation was just brutal. You’d buy it with, like, 80 miles of range and two years later you’d be sweating if you had to go 40. And the battery thermal management was basically non-existent, so if you lived anywhere hot, it just cooked the battery. For about $30,000, it felt like you were beta testing a product that Nissan hadn’t quite finished figuring out.

Fisker Karma

Oh man, this car. It was so, so beautiful. Like, a movie star. You saw it and you just wanted it. But it was a rolling disaster. The reliability was a nightmare—the electronics, the battery, the solar roof that didn’t really do anything… It was a plug-in hybrid, not a pure EV, but it had all the complexity and then some. And for over $100,000? It was a heartbreak on wheels. It promised Hollywood glamour but delivered mechanic’s bills that were also Hollywood-sized.

Smart Fortwo Electric Drive

The idea was cute, right? A tiny city car that’s electric. But the reality was… kinda pathetic. The range was so short, like 60 miles on a good day, and it charged so slowly. And it was still a Smart car, so it drove like a golf cart with a roof. For something that cost around $25,000, it felt like a really expensive toy that you outgrew in about a week. It was an answer to a question nobody was really asking.

BMW i3

This one is… divisive. I know some people love them. And I get it! The carbon fiber body, the quirky design, the sustainable materials inside. But that range, especially on the early ones, was just anxiety-inducing. And then they had that range-extender motorcycle engine that was loud and kinda defeated the purpose. It felt like a science project. For a premium price of over $40,000, it was just too weird and too compromised for most people.

Chevrolet Bolt (the early years)

Okay, before everyone comes at me, the Bolt is actually a really good car now. But those first model years? Man, they were plagued with the whole battery fire recall thing. Imagine buying a new car for $37,000 and then getting a letter from GM telling you not to charge it past 90% and to park it outside away from your house because it might spontaneously combust. Talk about a relationship killer. The fear just totally ruined the ownership experience, even if the car itself was decent.

Ford Focus Electric

This was the definition of a “compliance car.” Ford just took a regular Focus, shoved a battery in it where the trunk should be, and called it a day. The range was lousy, the charging was slow, and you lost all your cargo space. It was like they weren’t even trying. For about $30,000, you got a car that felt like an afterthought, because it was. It had no soul, no purpose, other than to let Ford say they had an EV.

Mitsubishi i-MiEV

This thing was… well, it was something. It looked like a soap dish on wheels. And it was so unbelievably slow and underpowered, merging onto a highway was a genuine act of faith. The interior was incredibly cheap, and the range was a joke. For nearly $30,000 when it came out, it was probably the worst value in the history of cars, electric or not. It was so bad it was almost charming, but mostly it was just bad.

Tesla Model X (with the Falcon Wing doors)

I know, I know, Tesla can do no wrong. But those early Model Xs with the complex Falcon Wing doors… what a headache. They’d get stuck in the rain, they’d freeze shut in the winter, they were just a solution looking for a problem. And the build quality on those early ones was so hit-or-miss. For a SUV that started at $80,000 and could easily go over $100,000, you expected perfection, and you often got a really fast car with weird, problematic doors.

Audi e-tron (the first one)

It’s a beautiful Audi, right? So luxurious, so quiet, so well-built. But that range… for the money, it was just embarrassing. You’d pay over $75,000 for an electric luxury SUV and get less range than a Chevy Bolt that cost half as much. It felt like Audi was so focused on making it comfortable and premium that they totally forgot the main point of an EV: to actually go places without constant charging anxiety.

Honda Clarity Electric

This might be the most forgettable car on the list. Honda made it, but they barely sold it, and they barely advertised it. It had a pathetically short range, like 80 miles, and it was only available for lease in a couple of states. It was like Honda was forced to make it at gunpoint. There was no passion, no innovation. It was an electric car designed by people who clearly wished they were building another gasoline Civic.