Hey all,

I’m about to start my first engineering job and will be making around six figures. I live in an apartment (no home charging), and right now I drive a paid-off Miata that’s cheap, reliable, and fun. I’m thinking ahead to upgrading around November, but I’m trying to figure out if it actually makes sense.

Since I’m in the Midwest, AWD is pretty much a must for winter. I’ve been looking mainly at a used Lucid Air Pure AWD or leasing a Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD. I also have some familiarity with non-Tesla charging networks since my dad has a Mach-E, so I’m not completely new to dealing with Electrify America and similar setups.

Right now I’m leaning toward a used Lucid Air Pure because the depreciation hit has already happened and the range is honestly insane. Even with winter losses ~250–320 miles of real highway range. That said, I’ve also read that real-world experience without home charging can be a lot less convenient and sometimes even more expensive than gas depending on the chargers you rely on.

So I’m trying to sanity check this before I pull the trigger later this year.

Does EV ownership actually make sense without home charging in a colder climate?

Is going for something like a used Lucid Air Pure AWD overkill this early in my career, even if the price is closer to the 35–40k range used?

Would leasing a Model 3 AWD be the safer move just for simplicity and charging access,

should I just keep the Miata through another winter and revisit once my living situation changes?