A new EV owner who is thrilled with her purchase. (Courtesy photo

Barb and Greg Whitchurch

We have been nudging friends toward giving up their gas-mobiles for years now. Our neighbor, in her early ‘80s, discovered in August that hers had become too expensive to repair, and she asked us for recommendations. After dealing with dealers and sellers within a nine-state area for a couple of weeks (YUK!), we found an honest dealer salesperson right here in southern VT. He is devoted to EVs and owns one himself. Here is the lightly abridged account of what our neighbor posted on our town’s listserv in early September.

“Last Monday I had an 11-year-old Honda Civic, which I bought new, never gave me a moment of trouble, whom I LOVED without reservation, and put 40,054 miles on her – ‘Hera’ was her name. But alas, I could not afford to make her inspectable again. Plus, I’ve been feeling guilty about generating pollution with her.”

But yesterday, a couple here in town who have had EVs for years helped me buy a 2021 Chevy Bolt (Premier trim) with 25,191 miles, in MINT condition, priced at $20,500. But for me (low-income, with a gas mobile to take out of circulation, and the state and federal incentives) it was just under $6,500! And so much cheaper to run per mile than any gas car.

Now I have a car with five video cameras for viewing what’s around the car; heated steering wheel and front and back seats; 10 airbags; 250-mile range, and more power and better balance than I’ve ever experienced.

When set to “auto,” it will defrost the windshield in winter, and take care of condensation; it will also adjust seats and steering wheel temperature. You can control this remotely or set it on a timer, all through the mobile app — no need to get into the car first. Also, you can set the temperature inside the vehicle so that every time you start the car, summer or winter, the car heats or cools to that temperature! I never even heard of such a thing before! I am one happy EV novice.

MANY thanks to you voters, taxpayers, policy-makers, and people who care about our planet for making these incentives available. Our now-annual floods caused by carbon pollution haven’t affected me directly — yet — and now I feel so much better that, at least in this part of my life, I’m no longer damaging the planet.”

Incentives used:

 $4,000: Used EV Federal Tax Credit (available at time of purchase)
 $4,000: VT Low-Income EV incentive;
 $5,000: VT Replace Your Ride incentive, for turning in one’s gas mobile;
 $2,500: VT Mileage Smart (SNAP) benefit;
$15,500: Total.

And then there’s a $950 incentive still to come from her electric utility, Washington Electric Coop — some utilities offer more. Lots of details at www.DriveElectricVT.com.

Like most other proselytizers, we are not trying to get people to buy EVs, we’re trying to get drivers to cut back on their unnecessary polluting. Waiting to get an EV as one’s next car is like waiting until one runs out of money before stopping smoking. The pollution we release every day is hurting us all more and more regardless of our future plans.

EVs are far safer, cheaper and more useful than gas mobiles ever were or could possibly be. If you’re still driving along at 60 mph, inches above the concrete while sitting on top of a tank of gasoline, you’re taking greater personal safety risks and paying more, for a substandard vehicle, while assuring a worsening climate and atmosphere for many years to come. Perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at your beliefs regarding gas and electric vehicles (www.bit.ly/ct-ev-myths).