Reply to Please take the Electric Vehicle pledge for Montgomery County

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Recent study suggests that EV owners don't buy EVs to save on gas, but rather because they have expendable income to spend on their belief in saving the environment.  [/quote]

But they save on gas just the same.  I'd buy an EV in a heartbeat if my building had charging stations and if I could make it far enough to visit family on a charge.  Back in 2007/2008 I bought a Honda Civic because it got 45 mpg on the highway and saved me a ton of money.[/quote]

The point is that EVs are by and large more expensive than your average gas vehicle, and the price point is too high for most.  Plus, the battery of an EV is very expensive to replace and dies after like 7-10 years, so used EVs aren't necessarily the greatest option.  People who have fewer spare dollars aren't going to spend it to feel good about their environmental commitment.  EVs are still a luxury good.

Plus, as you've noted, they don't quite fit in the market widely yet because of the low range per charge (particularly for the cheaper ones) and a lack of charging infrastructure.[/quote]

The average new car costs $40,000; there are plenty of EVs for that price or less, and most of them also get a $7,500 federal tax credit. So if you can afford a new car, you can afford an electric one. Yes, some of them are very expensive, but that’s the case with gas cars, too. Simply being electric doesn’t make a car a luxury good anymore. [/quote]

Still have the problems of range and charging infrastructure.[/quote]

Range of 250 miles is perfectly fine for most driving most people. The only time the range even needs to become something you think about is if you're on a road trip. And charging infrastructure (which, if you can install a charging station at your house, is also only a problem on road trips) is rapidly improving. Check out Plugshare.com to see the many, many places you could fast-charge an EV in this area or en route to almost anywhere else. West Virginia is a problem, I'll grant you that.[/quote]

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