I had been thinking about getting an electric car as a second vehicle for a few years as I really wanted to reduce my carbon footprint.
They are too cost-prohibitive for me to consider one as a primary vehicle. I cannot afford the ones that have 200+ mile range. Charging on the road is also not practical for me. When I am traveling, I usually go 200-300 miles in one trip.
All that being said, I bought a five-year-old LEAF from a co-worker who was leaving town. They offered it to me for less than used retail and I snapped it up.
Life became much easier when I installed a charger in my garage but before that, I would charge it at Lithia or at EWEB or even at the county buildings. Some of those services are no longer free, but they are still very convenient.
EWEB had a subsidy program that applied to the installation of my home charger, so that was an added gift!
My car is small, and really only has a range of about 60 miles when fully charged (it is about five years old), but I am able to get all my weekend errands done on one charge, even crossing between west Eugene and east Springfield on the freeway.
I don't drive it much on the short, dark rainy days of winter, but that is to do with size and visibility. When we are having inversions, I drive it as much as possible.
An electric car is not suitable for all lifestyles, but I am very grateful that I am able to use it for some of mine.
I love it. I love it being quiet; I love its features; I love its acceleration and I love the fact that I can do what I would normally do without contributing quite so much harm to the environment.
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Mailing Address: 4200 Roosevelt Blvd., Eugene, OR 97402
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