Real talk from a commuter-turned-EV-lover
Electric car owners are among the top advocates for these low-maintenance, emission-free vehicles. This is one EV owner’s story.
Caitlin Newman taught herself how to fix her four-door hatchback and maintain it. Working on her car was satisfying because she saved money. But after a manufacturing defect requiring an excess amount of oil, expense, and time, “I knew I was going to have to get rid of it,” Newman said.
Two years ago, the Bremerton, Washington resident turned to her local utility company’s online electric vehicle guide to research her next car purchase. She compared the operating costs of gas-fueled cars to hybrid and electric ones. “It was an easy choice” to go with a hybrid or electric car when she saw the calculated estimated savings. “The environmental concerns [of driving a gas-fueled car] were always there. The savings just tipped me over the edge.”
At first, Newman set her eyes on a hybrid. After she test drove the Chevy Volt at her local dealership, the car salesperson invited her to test drive the all-electric Chevy Bolt EV. Why not? she thought. “Somehow getting in it, seeing that it was real and that it felt like a normal car, not a spaceship, that it was an actual option, I was sold on electric.” Newman bought a used 2017 Chevy Bolt during a window with no state tax credits or cash incentives (currently only certain new models EVs are eligible for federal tax credits). “The dealership adjusted the price because they knew that,” Newman said. So she doesn’t feel like she missed out on savings.
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