It’s not as though electric cars are a brand-new thing. They’ve been around—in one form or another—almost since the automobile was invented. The Detroit Electric car, for example, was humming around city streets a hundred years ago, and who can forget the General Motors EV1, which was a common sight in California in the late 1990s?

But until recently, electric cars have been on the fringes, favoured by hard-core tree huggers and backyard engineers: interesting and environmentally responsible, certainly, but kind of nutty and slightly crackpot.

Not anymore. In Canada, there are about half a dozen pure electric cars on the market—and that’s not including plug-in hybrids. Here are three you can buy right now.

Nissan Leaf

This one kind of got the ball rolling in Canada, debuting three years ago. Powered by an 80 kilowatt (107 horsepower) motor, it has a lithium-ion battery pack and comes with things like heated front and rear seats, a rear-view camera, Bluetooth, cruise control, and a heated steering wheel as standard equipment. Simple controls and easy-to-understand instrumentation let you keep track of things like range, the state of the batteries, and ongoing consumption. Range is set at around 120 kilometres, depending on how the vehicle is driven and how many accessories are being used. Charging time with 240-volt household current is about four hours, but the “Quick Charge” accessory will give you 80 percent of a full charge in about half an hour. This latter feature comes with the SV model and adds $3,250 to the base price. The Leaf will seat five adults—snugly—and starts at $31,798.

Mitsubishi i-Miev

The City of Vancouver has 30 of these in its fleet, or will shortly, and of the EVs discussed here, it’s the roomiest. It boasts 1,430 litres of cargo space with the rear seats folded down, and it will seat four. The battery pack for the i-Miev is also lithium-ion, its AC motor develops some 69 horsepower. There are three charging modes for this one: with regular plug-in 120-volt household current, it’ll take anywhere from 14 hours to a full day to get up to full charge; with 240 volts, it requires seven hours to go from zero to a full charge; and with the quick-charge option, you can get up to 80 percent capacity in half an hour. Standard equipment includes heated front seats, air conditioning, a remote preheat/cool feature, and a tire repair kit. Range is around 150 kilometres, again depending on accessory load and driving habits. There’s only one version of the i-Miev, and it starts at $27,998.

Smart EV

Available as a hardtop or a convertible, the Smart EV may qualify as the quintessential city car. It’s as nimble as a Jack Russell terrier, and, with a purported 74 horsepower on tap, surprisingly quick. Like the i-Miev and the Leaf, it too has a lithium-ion battery pack, located under the floor, and driven conservatively it will take you around 135 kilometres before it needs a recharge. If you plug into a 120-volt household socket, it takes about 16 hours to get the Smart EV back up to a full charge, while 240 volts will do it in half that time. The Smart EV is intended to be a city vehicle, and, says the manufacturer, if you drive it 50 kilometres, it’ll take just three hours to bring it back up to a full charge. The average commuting distance is apparently 45 to 50 kilometres in Canada, so this would work as a commuter-mobile, as long as you don’t stray. With seating for just two, the Smart EV has bupkis in the way of cargo space, but you can park it just about anywhere. Prices start at $26,990 for the hardtop and $3,000 more for the cabriolet.

These aren’t the only games in town. Ford has the Focus BEV, BMW has its i3, and of course there’s the Tesla. But these last two are kind of inaccessible, price-wise, for the average working stiff. The BMW, for example, starts in the mid-$40,000 range, while the Tesla is in the mid-$60,000 to $80,000 neighbourhood. There are also apparently supply problems with these two; some models of the Tesla won’t be available until 2017. And now that the $5,000 government subsidy has been phased out in B.C., you’re pretty much on your own when it comes to signing on the dotted line.

On the other hand, there are now at least 550 charging stations throughout the province, so range anxiety may be a thing of the past.