You can get Gen1 Volts (like my 2015) for around $5k. Is that car-payment-land for you? Out out-of-pocket land?
A used Volt is that cheap? I could handle that out of pocket. I may have to look into that. One thing about used electrics and hybrids that gives me pause is I don't know how well the batteries age. I've heard some stories of faster-than-normal depreciation due to battery death.
Yeah. Battery-age is a common concern... and yet people buy gas-powered cars without oil change records or service records at all. And that is seen as fine and normal. The fact is, you few colossal battery failures/expenses you hear about are the ones that are exciting and colossal... you don't hear about the batteries doing fine at 300k-miles because they don't fit the narrative that hybrids/electrics are "risky". And the Volt has a gas generator anyway. I drove mine for 2 months without plugging it in once - only on gas - before I got the outlet installed at my house for the high-powered charging. (I weirdly didn't have any outlets on the front side of my house!) So even if your battery dies completely, you just have a really fucking heavy gas-powered car. :-)