It’s actually – by the time you read this – been about 15 months of Ev Life. Here’s how it’s going. The first few times I went on longer drives, I was definitely in a sweat, especially a trip I took in January of 2024, when the temp was around 9 degrees out, and windy. I had only 75 or 80 miles on the battery, and was planning on stopping to charge in a town and spot I had never visited before. All was well in the end, but it took about three months of regularly charging and getting to know how far the battery would take me, how long it took to charge, and where the charging stations were located, to fully relax.
Perks? I haven’t stopped at a gas station since, and – in total, in total – I’ve paid just under $50 smackeroons for charging my battery at various stations in my region. For the record, gas stations are among my least favorite places to visit on this good green, blue, and brown earth – especially since they added loud advertising screens to every pump – so this is, for me, a major perk.
The cost of charging has, I guess, added to my home electric bill, but not noticeably; there is a free charging station in my town, hooked up to solar panels, that I regularly use when I’m out and about. I’m hoping to see another just like it installed at our local recreation center, if not in ’26, the in ’27. Fingers crossed.
The car has all-wheel drive and heated seats and steering, which is all good, and has nothing to do with its being an EV. Using the a.c. runs the battery down toot suite, I’ve learned, but that seems about right to me, and is neither a pro nor a con. Most of my trips are less than 30 miles, so running out of power is not an issue, or hasn’t been, although that one cold AF day in January of 2024, yes, it was – or it felt – dicey.
Cons? Well, there are a few but they have nothing to do with the vehicle being an EV. I hate, hate, hate the way the windows operate, all four on a single pair of buttons with another spot to press to switch from front controls to back. There is so much room to simply put in two more control buttons; why do this? It sucks and I curse it regularly especially when driving at a higher speed limit when I have frequently mistakenly ‘rolled’ the front windows down and wide open – gaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! – all because the damned switch didn’t read my pressing finger-tips well enough. I do not like having to look down and search for a small light – is it on or off??!! – when I am moving at speed. Ick.
And I really, really hate the nanny state nature of the car – which (I’ve asked) is now standard in all cars, and which I am aware I could change if and only if I were willing to read the damned manual and alter the way in which the car is programmed. That. Is. Not. Going. To. Happen. Cars are tools for me to get from point A to point B, end of story – and when I am in one, I am focused on doing that; once at point B, I’m outtie, and have less than zero interest in knowing more, including sitting in it to makes those changes. I am also not interested in talking about, or reading anything having to do with my car or other cars, trucks, motorbikes, and all else mechanical. Nope.
But by nanny state I mean the alert(s) – front assist is not functioning!!! – that comes up when the front cameras (or whatever TF they are, sensors?) are covered with ice, snow, or mud. Hello. My eyes are my front sensors, and just because the car can’t ‘see’ ahead, I sure AF can, otherwise we’re in big trouble. And then there’s the way it brakes when I am backing onto the verge, because mini-pony and I are going for a walk. Hate that. It’s fucking high grass, you dumb-ass, not a concrete wall. Ditto the constant hectoring of an alert telling me I am not driving in the center of my lane. Here’s the thing, I get it, I live in rural America, and cars are made for the ‘burbs and ‘urbs. But in rural ‘Merica, there often ain’t no lanes, and especially when there is snow on the sides of the road, I am gonna hug that solid, mostly clear middle.
The worst thing about owning an EV? People who refuse to open their fucking minds to the inevitable ubiquity of battery-operated cars telling me I am a crunchy libtard. Whatever. Look at photos of LA, Maui, western North Carolina, and places all over the world that are struggling with obscene and destructive weather events – and tell me we don’t need to move, and move now, away from fossil fuels. Deep breaths.