My daughter and her husband have two cars: one electric and one gasoline. The electric car is for local trips and the other for longer excursions. They have installed a level 2 charger in their garage.
I am impressed with the higher efficiency of the electric car, a 2000 Bolt that they bought five years ago. The current electricity rate in the Flathead Valley is 12 cents
per kilowatt-hour, and Flathead Electric offers a lower rate of 9 cents/KWH for off-peak hours. A trip of 100 miles with the Bolt costs $3.07 and a little less if they charge at night. An average, front-wheel drive gas car, for the same trip, costs $12.13 (26.4 miles/gallon at
$3.20/gal). Using present rates for electricity and gasoline my daughter’s electric car saves 75% of the travel cost relative to an equivalent gas-powered car.
Furthermore, in five years there has been no maintenance or repair costs on the Bolt, while regular maintenance of the gas-powered car has been about $100/year. I conclude that electric cars are an excellent choice for commuting or other local use. The limitation is the availability of high-speed charging stations.
In addition, now is a good time to buy an electric vehicle, while a government incentive of up to $7,500 for a new electric car and $4.000 for a used electric car.
However, these tax credits could go away. Ask Senators Daines and Sheehy and Representative Zinke to keep the EV credits in the reconciliation package so more people can drive electric and save.
Kirk Bryan, Jr.
Whitefish