Last summer we put our 2004 Prius out to pasture at 284,000 miles. It was time to leap to an electric vehicle (EV). While the upfront cost of an EV is more than many gas-powered cars, over time it costs much less. It is cheaper to power, and has virtually no maintenance costs. No oil changes, radiator fluids, timing belts, water pumps, spark plugs, or exhaust systems. Most of the maintenance will be replacing wiper blades and tires.
We chose the Tesla Model Y for its long range and cargo capacity. We wanted maximum battery range for trips to see family on the west coast.
We got to test it last fall. My daughter asked us to come to Tacoma, Washington for support when grandchild number two arrived. This was our chance to see how an EV would work on a long road trip.
We experienced “range anxiety” for the first couple days as we learned a new pattern of fueling. The car shows all charging stations on the route, and recommends which to use so you aren’t spending excessive time charging. We learned to trust the car’s calculations on where and how long to charge to get to the next sensible charge station. This is more efficient than charging the battery to full every time – a big mind change from the gasoline norm of “fill ‘er up!” at every stop.
In a long stretch in eastern Montana the car told us to reduce speed by 5 mph to securely get to the next charging station. We did so, and got there with 4% charge remaining, a smaller margin than usual when there are more abundant chargers. The car constantly calculates range, which changes (as with gas-powered cars) depending upon wind, temperature, terrain, and driving speed.
Our average charging time was 20 minutes. This is longer than filling with gas — but after a couple of days we realized the gift in this. It gave us incentive for a brisk walk or short jog. After a long day of driving we felt so much better with the periodic exercise.
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