Here is Local 20/20’s latest column in the 10/27/21 Port Townsend Leader. Thank you PT Leader!
It’s Prime Time for EVs
By Cyndy Bratz
Jefferson County’s 2018 Greenhouse Gas Inventory indicates that transportation accounts for 66% of our greenhouse gas emissions. This might be your best excuse yet for buying the most responsive (fast), fun vehicle you’ve ever had! Our community has a new set of web tools that can help you in your EV research: https://jeffersoncan.org/electric-vehicles/
EVs don’t burn fuel, don’t emit exhaust or CO2. When you charge your vehicle in Jefferson County, you’ll be charging with 95% clean electricity – climate friendly! Most of us charge by plugging into a standard home outlet (110-v) overnight. At my house, I get 4 miles of range per hour of charge, or at least 50 miles of range overnight. Plus charging with electricity costs much less than gassing up.
How far can an EV go on a single charge? This varies from vehicle to vehicle and is steadily increasing. Newer and more affordable EVs have a range of at least 200 to 350 miles per charge. Range anxiety is slowly becoming a thing of the past. Here in Jefferson County, our roundtrip commute might be up to 50 miles per day between Quilcene and Port Townsend. Given how close we are to our homes and work, there isn’t an EV being sold today that doesn’t have enough range for 95% of our typical driving habits.
Aren’t EVs more expensive than gas vehicles? Not at all. The cost to buy the vehicle is competitive with gas cars now. Hyundai, Chevy, Nissan, Tesla and other manufacturers have higher range EVs on the market for between $30,000 to $40,000 base price. New EVs are more affordable now than ever, thanks to incentives like the Federal EV Incentive, up to $7,500, plus the Washington state sales tax exemption described below. Tesla plans to release a $24,000 model EV within the next 3 years. There are many electric SUVs on the market now and some pickups. Rivian has just begun delivering preordered R1T pickups. The Hummer EV truck, the more affordable Tesla Cybertruck ($39,900) and Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck are currently taking reservations (deliveries start 2022). There are electric Mustangs and electric Harley Davidson motorcycles. By 2024, North American car manufacturers plan to triple the number of non-gas-powered models to 203. And don’t forget used EVs – many are less than $30,000 (for longer range models), and some less than $10,000.
If you compare the cost of regular maintenance and fuel, EVs can end up with a lower total ownership cost than a gas car. EVs don’t need as much maintenance as gas vehicles, since they don’t have all the moving parts of an internal combustion engine. The Federal EV Incentive, up to $7,500, makes new EVs more affordable – checkout fueleconomy.gov. Washington currently has a state sales tax exemption on any new electric vehicle or plug in hybrid EV (with an upper limit sales price of $32,000 for most models), which can be another $3,000 in savings. Jefferson PUD offers a small rebate for installing a level 2 charging station plus federal incentives too. You can save money and be environmentally conscious at the same time! Check out the new web pages, put together by Local 20/20, for more info, https://jeffersoncan.org/electric-vehicles/
Bio: Cynthia Bratz is a retired environmental engineer with expertise in clean water, sustainability and climate action planning. She is a member of the Local 20/20 Climate Action Group.
