We recently sold my wife’s 20-year-old car (2006 Acura TSX) as it was unreliable and we’re shopping for a new EV. I asked four AI sites for recommendations: Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot. I gave them all the same criteria: not too huge (small garage, wife’s preference, no need), low tech – more buttons and knobs, fewer screen icons/menus, plug-in EV. After some back and forth and sharing the recommendations of each site with the other sites I winnowed it down to three choices they were all more or less happy with: Ioniq 5, Kona electric, and Polestar 2.

So today we visited the local Hyundai dealer, which sells both the Ioniq and the Kona. It turns out the Kona EV is not available in the U.S., at least not new, due to tariffs. The Ioniq 5 was there and it wasn’t a wasted trip, but still, I had specifically asked the saleslady yesterday if they had the Kona EV and they said yes. They lie to get you in the door. She wasn’t even there today even though she told me to ask for her. Maybe AI learned to lie from humans.

So I asked Google (AI mode) for the nearest Polestar dealer and it gave me the info for Volvo Palo Alto. I had seen a Polestar dealership there in the past. I called there to confirm they had the Polestar 2 in stock. The answer is no. They only service Polestar; they aren’t a dealer and in fact, there are no longer any U.S. Polestar dealers because of the tariffs. They all closed. Polestar has left the US market permanently after 2026. They did have a low-mileage used Polestar 2 and the sales guy sent me a video. It actually looks darn good for what my wife wants and needs, but I’d be nervous, as she is, about a used car that doesn’t have a dealership nearby. How long will the Volvo guys have any knowledge or interest in maintaining it?

So I went back to all the AI sites and pointed out that two of the cars they recommend are no longer available in the U.S. They all “apologized” but I don’t blame them despite the fact that I had said we were shopping for a new EV. I hadn’t specified that we wanted something to buy right now in the U.S. They were giving feedback based only on the criteria I gave it and online reviews, dealers’ specs, etc. So now I have a new set of cars to research, but I’m going to resort to an old-fashioned technique and ask my friendship circle for recommendations. You have the criteria above, and in addition I’ll mention that my wife is (somewhat reluctantly) driving/sharing my 2021 Volvo XC40 EV (which I love) and we have a level 2 charging station in our garage. An EV is an absolute. My wife and I hate gas stations and oil changes, etc.

Let me have your recommendations!