Getting our first EV soon and completely overwhelmed by all the garage charging options — where do I even start?

The first thing is to find out what size your service is. Go open the panel door and look at the main breaker, the big one usually at the top. It will say 100, 125, 150 or 200. The panel being from the 90s doesn't really matter. Breakers don't wear out from age in any way you need to care about here. What matters is how many amps the service has and what else in the house is electric. After that, look at what the car's onboard charger can actually accept. A lot of cars max out at 32A or 40A on AC, and putting in a 60A circuit for a car that can only pull 32A is money for nothing. The electrician will do the load calc. That's their job, not yours. You don't have to show up knowing the answer, just the main breaker size, roughly how far the panel is from where the car parks, and what car it is. For what it's worth, I'd go 14-50 on a 50A breaker if the panel can take it, not hardwired. You can use the portable charger if the car comes with one, and if the EVSE ever dies you unplug it and plug in another one. Use a decent receptacle - Hubbell or Bryant - not the cheap one. People will tell you hardwired is better and there are arguments for it, but I like the flexibility.

Main breaker size and distance from the panel to the car. Those two numbers are 90% of the conversation. Don't worry about smart vs dumb yet, the car itself can schedule charging.