It surprised me that we hadn’t even considered an electric vehicle. After all, we’re pretty eco-savvy. EVs should have been our logical next step.
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With $11.6 billion in investments since 2020, Gov. Andy Beshear says Kentucky will be the automotive nucleus of electric vehicle production.
Kentucky is the electric vehicle capital of America thanks to new battery manufacturing plants, suppliers and recycling operations, but consumers — myself included — have been slow to buy in.
Experts cite “range anxiety,” but it’s more than that. Buying an EV takes effort — and a mindset shift.
My husband and I are in the market for a new car. We’ve debated about Subaru versus Honda versus Ford. We’ve discussed whether a small car for commuting around the city makes sense, or if we would be more comfortable in an SUV or mid-size truck for the family.
It wasn’t until reading Connor Giffin’s and Olivia Evans’ reporting in the Courier Journal on Kentucky’s key role in the electric vehicle market that we even considered buying an electric model.
Why not?
Because EVs take effort. Gas-powered vehicles are simply what we know. It’s what we’re used to because we’ve been driving them our entire adult lives. It surprised me that we hadn’t even considered it. After all, we’re pretty eco-savvy. We put solar panels on the roof of our previous home and installed rain barrels in our garden to reduce our carbon footprint. EVs should have been a logical next step.
We course-corrected. They’re on our radar now, and we set out to drive one, learning a few things along the way.
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Range anxiety is real
Range anxiety is such a thing that when we showed up at the Honda dealership to drive the new Prologue, the sales person said, “EVs are only realistic for a slim population,” which he felt excluded him. He said he has a 30-minute commute to work and doesn’t live in the city so the lack of charging options were a barrier for him. But when discussing the features of the Prologue we learned it has a 300-mile battery range. So we could drive to Indianapolis and back before needing to plug it in.
Our salesperson’s apprehension matches the data. “Six-in-ten urban residents live within a mile of a public charger, compared with 41% of suburbanites and just 17% of rural Americans,” according to Pew Research. The closer you are to a public charging station the more comfortable you are with the idea and the more confident you are that the infrastructure will grow to support EVs. Regardless of the fact that you can plug in at home for daily use.
Kentucky isn’t the state with the most charging stations. California holds that title. We’re not even in the top 10, but we’re not in the bottom 10 either. The state with the least amount of chargers is Alaska. Kentucky has about 1,131 public charging stations with 482 of those being in Jefferson County, according to PlugShare. Maysville has only two.
Some manufacturers like Subaru have addressed range anxiety by offering 10 free days of Subaru car rentals for those long-range, off-the-grid trips through their dealership when you purchase their EV model, the Solterra.
Charging EVs isn’t as inconvenient as people think
The moment GPS navigators came on the market and showed you the ETA of your destination, drivers declared that the time to beat. Road trips are all about making good time. That goes away with an electric car. You’ll likely need to plan ahead where to charge and recharging takes more time than filing up your car with gasoline. This is a bit different than we’re used to, but having a charging station somewhere you can also explore is good because it’s going to take a while. Depending on the car and the charging port it can take about 30 minutes if it’s a fast charging station or 4-10 hours at a Level 2 station like you’d install at home or find at a hotel for overnight charging.
The PlugShare App tells you where charging stations are, but it’s not as easy as driving down the highway with your gas gauge light on and just looking for a blue sign near an exit to see where to pull off and fill up. But that’s changing too.
Many filling stations are taking steps to accommodate eclectic vehicles. Buc-ee’s have electric charging stations and local BP and Thornton’s are working to add them. Until then you’ll find charging stations at community centers, movie theaters, restaurants, grocery stores and even the Louisville’s LEED certified regional libraries.
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We all know it’s easy to spend at least 30 minutes in a Buc Ee’s. And unlike gasoline fill-ups, you don’t have to stand there and wait. It’s OK to walk away while your car is charging so long as you use an app that tells you when your charge is full so you can come back and move your vehicle for someone else.
The cost to charge your vehicle can vary. Louisville even has charging at no extra cost when you pay for parking at a PARC Authority garage, but there is a 3-hour continuous charging limit. At other charging stations you can expect to pay 25 cents to 40 cents per kWh depending on the charging speed. LG&E/KU charge a flat 25 cents per minute of charging. But when you charge your vehicle at home, it’s like paying less than $1 per gallon of gasoline for your traditional car. EV drivers save 40% to 65% annually on fuel costs over gas-powered vehicle drivers.
One-pedal driving confused me
When I first learned about one-pedal driving, I thought there was no brake pedal on an electric vehicle. I was wrong. There is a brake pedal but you really don’t have to use it unless there’s an emergency. You press the “gas” pedal to go, and ease up on it to slow down or release it to stop. It’s called regenerative braking and it recovers kinetic energy when you release it, which converts it into electrical energy to recharge the vehicle’s battery. Because of this, city driving actually helps increase your battery range.
The one-pedal system captures the energy in stop-and-go traffic, while reducing wear and tear on your brakes. It intimidated me at first, but once I tried it during a test drive I loved the ease of it. Vehicles are designed so you can turn this mode off and on. If you’re more comfortable with traditional braking, you can continue to use it. You just won’t recoup the energy for your battery.
Electric vehicles come with major perks
I love the idea of plugging my car in at home and not stopping at a filling station all the time. EV drivers save on fuel costs, there’s no more oil to change, and the battery lasts as long as the car does, which is 10-20 years depending on how much you drive and how well you maintain your car. Plus, things like brake pads don’t need replacing as frequently. EV owners save around 40% on repair and maintenance costs. As for the range anxiety, we tend to rent a car for road trips anyway, so I envision that continuing until the infrastructure and charging speeds catch up.
The price of the vehicles are dropping too, and EVs are comparable to new gas cars. You can get a new Nissan Leaf or a Mini Cooper for about $30,000, which is about the same as you’d pay for a gas-powered Mini Cooper. The all-electric Honda Prologue and Subaru Solterra are around $50,000 whereas a Subaru Crosstrek (which is a hybrid) will cost around $30,000. A Honda Pilot is $50,000 and Subaru Outback is $40,000. My husband’s electric dream truck on the other hand is $100,000. Just like gas-powered cars, your options run the gamut depending on your budget. EVs have been on the market for a few years now so we’re starting to see used options as well.
The other thing to keep in mind is that the federal rebate program takes up to $7,500 off the top of your EV purchase until the year 2032, making it even more affordable to consider switching.
There’s a lot to learn but since my husband and I took the time, we’re sold. Now, we just need to choose one.
Bonnie Jean Feldkamp is the community engagement and opinion editor for The Louisville Courier Journal. She can be reached via email at BFeldkamp@Gannett.com.
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