Monthly Archives: February 2018

Electric dreams and clean beaches

What does a picture of a Lab fetching a frisbee from the surf have to do electric dreams? Just indulge me for a bit…we’ve been driving the Bolt for two and a half months now, and I’m more convinced than ever that EVs can work for the vast majority of families, particularly if you look at one as a local or “regional” car. Yes, we still have two internal combustion vehicles for the time being, but they are being used for special cases. I have a Chevy Silverado crew-cab pickup I use for hauling the boat to the ramp, and as our long range trip car. We’ll keep the truck for its special abilities. We also have the 2006 Chevy Equinox that Jan drives once per week to Mebane to visit her mother in assisted living, a 400 mile round trip, and we need this vehicle as long as she’s making that trip. For everything else, we drive the Chevy Bolt. We drive to Wilmington, to Greenville, to Jacksonville, to Beaufort, to Morehead, or just to Swansboro. Now that the weather has warmed, we’re getting 5 to 5.5 miles per kWh (up from 4ish mp/kWh in cold weather), for nearly a 300 mile range. Think about the percentage of your drives that fit a 125 to 150 mile circle. I’ll bet it’s pretty large. Need to go further? Keep a second car, or rent for trips. More EVs are coming to market with decent range and dropping prices. If you think about it, you could use an EV for most of your driving, too. Teslas are great if you can afford one, but if not, there are a growing number of options. Look at EVs. Ask your friends who have them. I’ll bet you can make it work, and it’s good for the planet…let’s make drilling for oil and gas a moot point, and keep our beaches clean…and that will keep that dog happy in the surf!