Electric Cars Take Center Stage At World Renowned New York Auto Show

MIAMI (CBS) - Electric cars took center stage as the New York International Auto Show got underway on Friday.

Hyundai's IONIQ Five was named the World Car of the year. It took home the top prize and several other awards at the New York auto show. The vehicle starts at $43,650, comes with a high-tech dash, travels 300 miles on a charge, and is quick.

"Does zero to 60 in 5.2 seconds. It's instant torque, it's very punchy," said Hyundai's Troy Miller.

"The big trend of the show this year is definitely electrification," said Tim Stevens, editor in chief of CNET's Roadshow.
He said more electric vehicle choices are charging into dealerships, from the $27,400 Nissan Leaf to the $90,874 Ford Lightning Platinum and the Porsche Taycan Turbo S with a $185,000 price tag.

"People have only had the choice for Teslas for so long, people are just excited to have a lot of choices on the market now," Stevens said.

According to Stevens, EVs only accounted for about 3.5 percent of total vehicle sales last year. But popularity is growing, fueled by frustration with current prices at the pump.

"As gas prices continue to increase, that certainly makes things a lot easier to quantify from a cost standpoint that EVs make a lot of sense, not just for the environment, but also for your budget," he said.

Consumers seem to agree. Cars.com saw online searches for EVs surge 173 percent last month and 55 percent of gas-powered car owners say they're considering going electric.