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Looking at the rear-view mirror of the Ford Mustang Mach-E GT crossover I recently tested, I was pleasantly surprised to see a basic feature: a rear windshield wiper. Why? Several EVs on sale in Canada don’t offer a rear wiper to clean the glass of rain, snow or slush. It got me thinking about what other features some EVs don’t come with, whether it is to help the vehicle’s range or cost.

No spare tire: As I discovered recently when the tire of a Volvo XC90 plug-in hybrid I was testing clipped a rock and needed to be replaced, few EVs come with a spare tire, though there are exceptions. This is not only an EV thing. Roughly 30 per cent of new vehicles in North America don’t come with one. Some do provide a can of foam sealant or inflator to help get short distances with minor punctures or will offer roadside assistance.

No outside door handles: Like the Mazda RX-8 that preceded it, the Mazda MX-30 EV has four doors but only two handles. Passengers in the back must wait for the front door to open so they can swing open the back door.

No AM radio: BMW hasn’t offered AM radio since the launch of its i3 and i8 sports cars in 2013, while Volvo plug-in models and Polestar also don’t offer it, apparently due to the interference from the electric motor to the AM band. Nor do Tesla vehicles, or EV models from Porsche, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, offer AM radio. Some brands get around this by offering the ability to pick up digital versions of AM stations.

No Apple CarPlay or Android Auto: Again, Tesla gives a hard “no” to both these popular platforms, while Volvo and Polestar were, until recently, only offering Android Auto. Both those brands sent an over-the-air update within the past few weeks that let iPhone users reflect their phones.

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