The Illicit Joys of an Electric Vehicle
My friend Judy* has always had a lead foot. She revels in burning rubber, in being first to the traffic light, in the simple joy of acceleration. She calls herself a spirited, safe driver, though we have mutual friends who won't ride with her and other who when they do, keep their eyes closed and hands clenched.
When I asked Judy if she wanted to test-drive my electric vehicle (EV); she repeated some of the myths we EV drivers often hear, "I bet all those batteries make it drive like a minivan... there’s nowhere to charge..." and so on. It was only after driving my all electric Kia Soul did she realize the magic, the joy of near instantaneous electric torque and the associated acceleration.
Judy, like most of us, can't afford a Tesla. However, she did lease an all electric Nissan Leaf and put down a Tesla Model 3 deposit. Now Judy preys on the gasoline driver in the lane beside her at the traffic light. "Eat my electric dust" is her victory cry as she silently out-accelerates Porsches, Audis & BMWs.
Prior to leasing her EV, Judy researched the whole proposition and found that not only did she get a new "hot-rod" but both the total ownership cost and the carbon/energy footprint was significantly less than her gas-car. Plus she got rights to the HOV lane and no more time consuming trips to the gas station for fuel and oil changes.
So the next time you are waiting at a traffic light, lookout, you may get "smoked" by Judy in her red all electric Leaf!
*Name changed per request.
Electric Cars are Cheaper Than Cell Phones!
Check it out! You can now lease an electric car for as low as $29/month* - which is probably less than your monthly cell phone bill.
My buddy, Scott, just leased a Chevy Spark for $52/month and $3,318 down. He'll get to drive it up to 12,000 miles/year. He'll even get a check for $2,500 from the CA Clean Vehicle Rebate Program (once funded**), so his down payment is essentially $818.
Not only will Scott get a brand new car for very little money, but Scott will get HOV stickers as the car is an "electric vehicle" (EV), allowing him to drive in the carpool lane alone. Plus, he is going to enjoy that almost instantaneous acceleration of an EV***.
And if all that wasn't enough, he's going to save even more money on fuel costs: it's about 3¢/mile on electricity compared to 10¢/mile in a gas car, because EVs are inherently more efficient. And because it's a new car, he will have virtually no maintenance costs over the 3-year lease, so he's even going to save even more money.****
To top it all off, Scott will be substantially lowering his carbon footprint, and investing in a clean energy future for all of us.***** With all these advantages, no wonder he and his family are so happy!
If you're looking for more information on EVs, specifically within the state of California, there are a couple of links you should definitely read up on right here!
EV Links
Thanks for reading,
Sven (The guy with the Nation's first free EV charger in front of his house!)
P.S. When I asked Scott if I could use him as an example, he said, "...we are proud to be driving Electric. I always hoped we could drive an electric car but thought it would be too expensive, no longer!"
*See this comparison of current electric vehicle (EV) leasing deals in California. Note, the numbers on this site do not include taxes and title, nor do they factor in the $2,500 CA State rebate.
** Depending on income, the $2500 rebate may be as high as $4,000, or as low as zero. Although the rebate is currently not funded, it is taking reservations and will likely be funded within the next 90 days.
***While the Chevy Spark is not a Telsa, it comes close. Most EV's blow most gas cars out of the water when it comes to acceleration.
**** 3¢/mile on electricity is based on the Spark at 4 miles/kWh and electricity at 11¢/kWh, PG&E EV-B rate. 10¢/mile on gasoline is based on 30 mpg and $3/gallon. Scott's new EV will likely require no more than maintenance than rotating the tires every 7,500 miles and refilling the windshield wiper fluid.
*****Passenger vehicles in the Bay Area are responsible for ~30% of our carbon footprint. Simply getting out of your gas car and into an EV (or onto a bicycle or riding public transit, etc) is likely the single biggest thing you can do to address global warming. For more information, and a funny visualization of all that CO2, visit Worse than Poop!