include several pictures
I got my car in 2014. At that time it was the 'greenest car on the planet'. When the Chevy Bolt came out in 2017 my car was suddenly obsolete. Its range was much less than the Bolt and this mattered. And the Bolt was just as 'green' having a mpge rating quite similar to the i-3.
Georgy's advice - when you go to the grocery store you don't bring your own cart. As long as you can get one you don't need to bring your own.
When I rent a car it's sort of fun to see how quickly I can adapt to it.
Driving a rental car is not as 'comfortable' as a car that you own. We don't have all of our usual personal stuff in the car. For some people the car they drive becomes an extension of our body. That's psychology. :)
Renting a car - it's not as if there is a shortage of cars around here. Enterprise rental car corporation has/had a tagline: "buy for the need and rent for the exception" I liked that.
from Enterprise Web Site
The Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand offers a wide variety of car leasing, vanpooling, car sharing and hourly rental programs - and local car rental customers are picked up at no extra cost. Enterprise also has a well-established track record for making "virtual cars" convenient and affordable for those who prefer to "buy for the need and rent for the exception." As a result, Enterprise Rent-A-Car launched hourly rentals in 2005 and local car-sharing in 2007 as a natural extension of its business rental program and longtime focus on customized service in communities. With WeCar car-sharing technology, Enterprise offers a totally automated, membership-based and environmentally friendly transportation solution - for an hour, a day, a weekend or longer - thereby providing businesses, universities and government offices an opportunity to enhance their fleet management operations and sustainability initiatives. In addition, Enterprise Rideshare specializes in providing vanpool and carpool commuter services to individuals and companies.Years ago I designed a license plate frame which says:
In cars (and in other things) I want to "be on the right side of history". Clearly the future will be more and more electric and less and less internal combustion of unrenewable fossil fuels - which also have harmful emissions that warm the planet. Being "fossil fuel free" is still a good ways away but that IS the direction the planet will be taking.
I'm an AMERICAN and that means FREEDOM. And freedom means being able to go WHEREver I want WHENever I want as FAST as I want. This is an attitude that needs to change.
Rather than always thinking it would be nice to be over THERE or way over THERE ... Instead, stay at home, tend your garden, meet your neighbors, and build community.
To offset the cost there were incentives: $7,500 rebate from the federal government $2,500 from California Initially I got a white sticker for the HOV lane but it expired.
Instead of driving long distance take public transportation (plane, train, bus) and when you arrive, rent a car, if needed. There is now also Uber, Lyft, and Turo (rent individual people's cars).
Georgy called ICE cars "exploding dinosaurs".
The BMW i-3. In 2014 it cost $55k - with an extended warranty. Larger screen display. High end audio. Fast charging port. I didn't get the heated seats.
Here are a few unique features of the car:
The car is VERY quick (scary quick actually), VERY smooth, VERY green, VERY quiet, VERY high quality (it's a beemer). It just doesn't go very far.
Tanya said, "Hmmph. It's a computer you can drive."
The car has a name: Tarry Scoot - from "The Tortures of Touring" by George Ade. It can certainly scoot but it encourages you to tarry (to preserve range).
I chose to NOT get the REX range extender version. I saw a forum post that made sense to me: "It takes away from the purity of it all." Dragging around gas in a gasoline tank and a little internal combustion engine everywhere you go but using it very rarely just didn't seem right.
I think the moment I finally decided was when (late 2013 or ~early 2014) in the Peninsula - I saw three cars IN A ROW that were electric:
Also, as a self-identified environmentalist I decided it was time to "put my money where my mouth was". I had already put solar panels on the Santa Cruz house.
At the time there were 3 main choices of EV:
Soon after I got the car I heard about a special event. I participated in the Guiness World Record for an electric car parade. ... add some pictures I took and web sites.
For new passengers who have not ridden with me before I have a policy:
Article saying it's no good to have to twiddle one's thumbs while charging - can one waste time? (ask Jim for more)
Going slowly to conserve range or to achieve a better gas mileage one has to be careful to not be an obstacle on the road and create a dangerous situation for others trying to pass you.