In view of the primacy of electric vehicles in the Maine Climate Action Plan, I wanted to follow up on Dan Lyons’ point that the transition is not painful.
I got a Tesla Y in July. I initially kept my gas car as I wasn’t quite sure how the e-car would work, or whether I would want a backup.
After a short time I sold the gas car. Granted these days I’m not driving as much, but the e-car has a range of 300 miles, I can fully charge it in the garage every night, and there is quite a bit of public charging available (and certainly more on the way). I have not yet needed to use a public station, but charging does not concern me at all.
The car is not cheap, and certainly less costly alternatives need to be developed. On the other hand, the price of my car is fully competitive with gas cars of the same quality and equipment level.
On the plus side, you spend no time in gas stations. And discussions of gas vs. electric often neglect to mention that e-cars have minimal regular maintenance. How much time and hassle does that save?
Credit where due, my interest in e-cars crystallized after seeing them featured in a movie on alternative energy at last year’s Friends of Casco Bay Film Festival, presaging the Climate Action Plan!
So I urge folks to look at going electric as an opportunity not a sacrifice.
Dan Emery
North Yarmouth
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