Observations of an electric car owner
I've owned my trusty little Fiat500 electric for 4 years. I have no idea the price of gas. Or oil. I can blow past most cars from a red light.
Mike Reed – published Mar. 8, 2021
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How much does gas cost?
Seriously, I have no idea.
Recently my wife complained about it costing $75 to fill up her car. Blank stare. "Is that a lot for a tank of gas?" She looked at me suspiciously. Was he being a sarcastic ass?
I wasn't. I hadn't been to a gas station in 4 years.
Yes, I get 160 mpg
My car gets about 160 miles per gallon. But, let's do some calculations to verify this.
A gallon of gas can produce about 33 kWh (kilowatt hours) of electricty. My car's battery is a 24kW battery. It's the equivalant of about 3/4 a tank of gas.
I can average about 125 miles per full battery. So, 125/.75 = 160 mile per gallon.
Electric cars are insanely cheap to own
No gas bill. No oil changes. No brakepad changes.
With fewer moving parts, there's a lot less that can go wrong with my car and so far...nothing has.
What about the cost of the electricity, you might be asking? Well, electricity is much cheaper per kWh of energy than gas. I did the calculations and at my peak consumption, I was paying about $20/mo to fuel my car.
You get funny questions
So, it's a hybrid, right? Runs on both electricity and gas? (Pause) So...there's no gas? None at all?
Aren't you afraid of being electrocuted?
Where do you plug it in at?
I never would have thought it runs on electricity! It looks just like a regular car!
I only paid $10,000 for it
Did I auction my left kidney for it? No.
I bought it used, and still under warranty for 2 more years, for only 10k. After getting it inspected, I cut the dealer a check for the amount. Thank you GS motors in Hopkins, MN.
The point being you don't need to be a .com millionaire to own an EV.
The acceleration is awesome
My motor can produce more torque faster than most combustion engines. And there's no jerky gear change...my car doesn't change gears. It's so smooth.
The fun part about this? Beating (most) combustion engines off the line from a dead stop.
Range anxiety...for a while
Yes, range anxiety is a thing. I had it for a month or two in beginning of owning my car. But, after while, you don't really notice. My car can get about 125 miles per charge. As long as I plug my car in every night I'm fine.
I'll never own a gas-powered car again
Driving an ICE car is now odd.
The loud noises, the jerky shifting, the smell of exhaust, the inconsistent input of petal to foot. Driving a car with an internal combustion engine feels odd and is sort of a bad experience after owning an electric car.
My next car will be an electric car. I love the way my car feels, drives, not paying for gas, etc.
So, bye bye gas...we're breaking up forever.