National Drive Electric Week September 12-20
With the emergence of alternative fuel choices becoming a reality in the US marketplace several electric automobile organizations have set aside next week for a nationwide campaign to educate and inform the American public about electric cars. Our journey to buy an electric car began in 2014 when a client whose backyard we were transforming bought a Nissan Leaf and set up a charging station in their garage, to say we were intrigued was an understatement. After talking with family, looking at every video on YouTube, every online article we could find, as well as chatting with a couple of friends at church who had one; we took the plunge.
Our ownership’s thoughts were certainly not discouraged by the tax incentives that accompanied the purchase, (those are now gone because according to our state politicians it was “costing us too much”) but we saw the overall operational costs and had a hard time imagining how any surface “range anxiety” might outweigh the benefits of owning a clean fuel efficient car that operates at such a low cost.
As self-professed caretakers of the environment we felt you should not just talk the talk. We have enjoyed walking (driving!) the walk. Some have said that the company we buy electricity from probably uses a “dirty” material/process to produce the power they sell us but that isn’t a given and potentially a stretch. After 8 months of use logging a little over 19,000 miles we have noticed a nominal rise in our electric bill, but we haven’t bought one drop of gas, oil, transmission fluid, antifreeze, etc. We did have our only maintenance visit to the dealership after 15,000 miles and paid a whopping 19.95 for the service (tire rotation)!
We have gotten curious folks who give their opinion about the car. One fun situation we have had happen several times is that after explaining all of the electric aspects of the car and how it works, folks ask “so what kind of motor does it have?” It makes me smile thinking that not only are we on the cutting edge of advancements in technology as a company and family, but that it seems hard to believe that a car you drive everyday (not long vacation trips) doesn’t consume fossil fuels in an internal combustion engine. We humans sometimes have a hard time changing our way of thinking and that includes every single one of us. If we are going to affect change in the world you have to start somewhere and having a landscape company that operates an environmentally friendly administrative car that produces zero emissions while the driver enjoys a brisk yet quiet ride seems like a good place to start!
