That sound you don't hear is a rising wave of BEVs

In the last two years, consumer purchase consideration for an electric vehicle has increased by 24 percent, according to a McKinsey & Co. report. And judging by the number of these vehicles in automakers' pipelines, consumers will have plenty of options.

General Motors and Volkswagen Group dealers will see their showrooms begin to fill with electric vehicles in the coming months. Volkswagen is spending $37 billion on BEVs — $12 billion of which is dedicated to grow VW's EV sales to 1 million a year by 2023. Volkswagen's ID4, aimed at the Nissan Leaf, arrives in the first quarter of 2021.

GM is investing $27 billion in BEVs and is launching 30 battery-powered vehicles by 2025, 20 of which will be sold in North America. They include the electric Hummer, several Cadillacs, a revamped Chevrolet Bolt and more.

Ford's $11.5 billion BEV investment is part of its plan to launch 40 BEV and hybrid nameplates globally by 2022. Other brands, such as Jaguar, Porsche and Audi, have already launched their first BEV in the U.S.

Eye-catching new entries — such as the Rivian R1T electric truck and battery-powered R1S SUV, the electric GMC Hummer EV high-performance off-road vehicle, Tesla's extraterrestrial-looking Cybertruck and other BEVs from startup companies — have some consumers reaching for their checkbooks without even taking a test drive.