Marks Electrifying Cars

 I asked my friend, Mark, to write up his impressions of driving electric cars. He works in Wisconsin but travels up here often to play and maintain his property. He wisely jumped into the cockpit of electric vehicles early. This move has not only livened up his driving experience but simultaneously has saved him bucks. 

 

As for me, I am a bit of a slacker. My Tesla Cyber pickup truck has been on order for over a year. There are plenty of folks ahead of me on the Cyber Truck list so I will have to exercise patience.

 

I hope you enjoy Mark’s impressions of owning electric vehicles.

 

Mark: “I have to say there are two things that stand out since I started driving electric drive cars. First is the acceleration, and secondly is the fact that for the first time in my life I own only American made cars.

 

First, the instant acceleration is a new feeling to me, compared to ICE (internal combustion engine) cars. I was never a hot-rodder in high school. Since I am now 75 years old, I was in high school a long time ago. The other guys had Mustangs or Corvettes, but I was never interested in sports cars or muscle cars. Some guys wanted to peel out at a stop sign or red light in order to impress an audience, but none of that mattered to me. Now, with my electric drive cars, I have instant acceleration. This fact requires me being aware that I should not slam on the accelerator when leaving a red light changing to green or leaving from a stop sign.  I was never an aggressive driver, so that is something I never needed to worry about. However, the instant acceleration comes in handy at times, such as when I need to merge into expressway traffic.

 

How is an electric drive car different from a standard hybrid, such as a Toyota Prius? In the case of the Chevrolet Volt, the motors that drive the wheels are electric. The gasoline engine only comes on to charge the battery. The gas engine in a Volt is called a range extender, since it never drives the wheels of the vehicle. With the technology in the Volt, the battery gives the car about 45 or 50 miles of electric only range. After that, the gasoline engine comes on the charge the battery, and gives the car a total range of almost 400 miles.

 

The Volt is no longer being built, being replaced by a new family of electric only vehicles. I got involved in electric-only cars in 2017 when I bought a Nissan Leaf. I traded the Leaf for a Chevrolet Bolt three years ago, and now have an electric only car that has almost 300 miles of range. This makes possible day trips of 100 miles or so and back in the same day, charging the vehicle entirely at home. If I need to stay away from home for a long trip, I can find DC fast charging stations in many cities in the Midwest and charge the car to 80 or 90 percent capacity in 30 to 40 minutes.

 

The second thing is that for the first time in my life I own only American made cars, three Chevrolets and a Ford. The Ford is the only vehicle I have that still uses fossil fuels to drive the wheels. I have two Volts and a Bolt, and a Ford Explorer. The Ford is generally only driven in winter, since I need all wheel drive due to the snow in Wisconsin and Michigan. Fortunately, much is happening in electric vehicles. Volkswagen has a four-wheel drive ID. 4 coming out, and Hyundai has an all-wheel drive Ioniq. I am looking forward to the time when I can ditch the Ford and have all electric-only vehicles. 

 

When I can get to the point where I can put up photovoltaic cells and charge my batteries for free, transportation will be extremely cheap. As it is now, I have one vehicle that will never need an oil change, muffler, or a tune-up. I am already saving money driving an electric only vehicle, because even when I have to pay to charge my electric car, the cost for electricity is much less than the cost would be to buy gasoline or diesel fuel. So electric-only cars not only cost less for fuel, but also maintenance costs are much cheaper than those required for an internal combustion engine powered vehicle.” 

 

Grey, “Thanks Mark. And just a note, there are as much as $7,500 dollars in Federal Tax Credits on various electric vehicles still available. Unfortunately, these are on a first come first serve basis and will not last.” 

 

If you have questions about electric vehicles e-mail me at: climatelynx@earthlink.net  and I will pass on your questions to Mark.

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