Member-only story
Electric Cars — Who Should Buy One?
Examine your motivation before proceeding
I am a huge fan of our Tesla. I enjoy driving it and the performance shocks me every time I get in the car. In fact, the car has completely spoiled me. That being said, I think that we need to step back and examine who should go buy an EV and why.
Gas Pump Pain — Not a reason
I have become very concerned with the idea that people could be flocking to purchase electrical vehicles based on the current price of fuel. Gas prices have been known to fluctuate radically over the years. Of course, they are high right now and that creates pain for everyone. High gas prices impact far more than just how much we pay to drive our cars, but we’ll save that for another story.
I completely understand the interest in electric vehicles when gas prices shoot up. I considered buying a natural gas vehicle in the mid-2000s when gas prices last spiked. At that time, I was driving 30,000–40,000 miles per year, so I could easily justify the savings that a Honda Civic NG-based vehicle would offer.
Unfortunately, these types of decisions often become emotional decisions rather than logic-based decisions. Doing some simple math can help buyers truly understand what they’re getting into before they opt to do so.
