ELECTRIC CARS ARE CLEANER, FASTER, CHEAPER

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new mandate to eliminate new gas cars in 15 years is very realistic. When you consider cost of ownership, a Tesla model 3 is as cheap as a Toyota Prius and they are only getting cheaper. The big hold-up on BEVs (battery electric vehicles) is the cost of the battery. Elon Musk just showed a path to reducing the cost of those by 56 percent. Bringing the cost of batteries well below $100/KWH with no cobalt, far less toxic chemicals, recyclable and life spans approaching a million miles. All this within the next three years.

When California led the way in eliminating lead from gasoline, the naysayers said it couldn’t be done. It happened. The world is going electric. China is leading the world in EV production and many parts of Europe have plans in place to eliminate gas cars in urban areas. We are falling behind.

Electric cars are not only cleaner, they are faster and cheaper than ICE cars. I drove 41,000 miles last year and have more than 100,000 under my belt driving all electric. My typical cost for electricity is about 4 cents/ mile. I drove to Florida from Bakersfield for under $100. At 30 mpg that would make my fuel cost about $1.20 per gallon if I we’re driving a gas car. There is also almost no maintenance. No smogging, no tuneup, no catalytic converters, no oil changes and probably 300,000 before I’ll need brakes. Can you say solid state? Just tires, wipers and washer fluid.

We need to jump on this and be the leader in an industry that can lead us into the future. There will still be a need for petroleum products for things other than gas, but we need to be realistic about what that demand will be. It wasn’t that long ago we saw negative oil pricing. That was a sign. Read that sign. It says EVs are here to stay.