In praise of electric vehicles

Editor: Now would be a good time to liberate yourself from the grips of gasoline.

I know I’m privileged to own my home and am therefore able to own rooftop solar. So I pay nothing in fuel costs. How would you like to end your gas budget and never stop at a gas station again, unless you want to buy junk food?

I did have to pay for the solar panels but they have paid for themselves already.

When I first got my electric car, before I had my charger installed, I had to go to the public chargers and even then, a full “tank” or full charge cost a fraction of what a full tank of gas would cost.

I know our future selves will look back in disbelief that we stayed with that old dinosaur technology for so long, that so harms the world and stinks and is so loud. Not to mention carcinogenic. Because of the adoption of EVs, I’ve read that our air quality has improved to the point that it was at during the pandemic when not many people were driving.

Considering how many people are killed by air pollution every year in the U.S., that is a huge societal win. And if you’ve ever been to a third world country that doesn’t have the kind of air quality regulations that we have, you’ll know how precious clean air is to breath.

I have to say, I love my EV even more than I thought I would.

Make the leap! You’ll be glad you did!

— Anne Petersen, Sonoma