Forgive the clickbait title, but I am pondering this and would love some mustachian input.
We just went on a camping trip with my child’s school. The organizer is a huge proponent of the Sierra club, camping, carbon footprint reduction, and electric cars. He made the point that every gallon of gas is 20 lbs of carbon and switching to an electric car is a meaningful change for many reasons. We went so far as to test drive another camper’s car, a Chevy Bolt, I believe. Nice car. The owner was leasing it and figured out that it was going to cost him 6k over the 3 years, offer HOV lane access and no gas cost.
Okay, I find all of this pretty compelling, but.
We ride our bikes all the time. If we buy gas once a month, that is a lot. Our cars are paid off (a 2004 Jetta and a 2010 Odyssey). We have a single car garage that houses all the bikes. If we got an electric car, we would have to put up bike racks and figure out a place for the Burley when charging.
We also have three children. I am definitely not up for dropping 55k on a Tesla S that will fit everyone comfortably for long trips.
My husband feels a heavier car is better in accidents and is disinclined to change the status quo.
What do we need a car for? Errands around town, 4-6 camping trips a year, 2-3 ski trips, the occasional journey to SF or LA. Not a whole lot in other words. We were going to sell the Jetta and experimented with not using it for four months.
So, I am contemplating ditching the Jetta and getting something like the Bolt for local, non-freeway driving. It seems like too much of a pain to rent a bigger car for longer trips, so could keep the minivan for that.
It feels weird to spend money getting a new car, a bit face punchy to be honest. I like to keep costs low. I also like the idea of supporting electric cars, but had vaguely assumed I would do it at some point in the future.
Thoughts? Opinions? Your experience with electric cars? Suggestions for cars and ways to make this happen? It sounds like the leasing market varies a lot and I would need to spend some time researching and looking for the best deal.
On a funny note, as we left the campground, the organizer was happily chanting, “Electric cars! Electric Cars!” I yelled back, “Bicycles! Bicycles!”