A friend recently contacted me about purchasing a new car. My first reaction was, “This is the absolute worst time to buy a vehicle.” I pointed out all the usual supply chain issues and how, if we’re lucky, it’ll be a year before things get back to normal. Whatever that is.

Of course, that information doesn’t help people who might need to buy a new vehicle. A one-car family with a car that’s been in a crash or is beyond repair can’t wait 12 months (or longer) for the market to stabilize. They’ve got their eye on an EV, and now they think that if they have to buy something new, it might as well run on electrons instead of fossil fuels.

If this applies to you, a friend or family member, here are some tips on how to navigate the EV sales market.

Follow any auto publication and eventually you’ll see an article about an insane market for a vehicle. Usually it’s a car in high demand that’s likely new to the market. The Ford Bronco comes to mind. But it’s not just nostalgic SUVs that are susceptible to insane markups added on top of the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). The Ford F-150 Lightning and Hyundai Ioniq 5 are both in high demand, and if there’s one thing we’ve learned from economics 101, it’s that supply and demand dictate the price of an item. There’s a ton of demand and very little supply.