Farmers Market hosted a dozen ‘plug ins’
This weekend, the Farmers Market hosted a group of electric vehicle owners engaging with the public to celebrate National Drive Electric Week 2019. Throughout the day, 10 drivers showed a dozen vehicles and answered questions about their experiences driving electric vehicles.
This event was one of 18 events in NY state, and 320 nationwide, throughout the week of September 14-22. The nationwide event is sponsored by Plug In America, the Sierra Club, and the Electric Auto Association.
The vehicles on display Sunday were a good variety of price ranges, distance capacity, and types of electric motors. The drivers came from all over the Hudson Valley, even as far away as Connecticut. The smallest car was a smart for-two electric drive, and the largest was a Tesla Model X that holds 7 passengers and goes over 300 miles on a charge. Base prices for these vehicles ranged from $23,000 to $90,000 (before tax incentives and rebates). Several of the vehicles had owners who purchased as “certified pre-owned” and paid well under base price for their car.
Other vehicles on display were made by Chevrolet, BMW, Kia, Volkswagen, and there was even an electric-assist bicycle. With all of the vehicles present, the drivers had a combined total of 272,000 all-electric miles driven! Even if we assume that 100% of the electricity came from a coal-fired power plant (which it did not), these 10 drivers have avoided 40 tons of carbon dioxide emissions compared to gasoline-fueled combustion engines. Of course, we know our electricity in NYS is cleaner than 100% coal, and getting cleaner all the time.
The questions kept coming throughout the day, and many great conversations took place with visitors who wanted to know more about driving electric.
The most common questions were “how far does it go on a charge,” “how do you charge it,” and “how fast does it go.” The answer to the first question varied by vehicle model, but the common advice from drivers is to figure out what you need the car for and make a decision that fits your needs and your lifestyle. You need to think about your charging options, like if you can plug it in at home (even with just a “regular outlet” plug) or if your workplace has charging options. The “how fast” question always brought a smile, and every answer was “fast enough to get a speeding ticket.”
Most visitors enjoyed learning more, and appreciated being able to see and touch the cars in person. Some were ready to consider plug-in vehicles for themselves, some already had plug-ins of their own, and others planned to wait a bit longer for prices to go down.
Several of the electric vehicle drivers took advantage of the Village of Highland Falls’ public charging station to add a few miles to their range before heading home.
(Editor’s Note: Thanks to Mindy Kimball, a member of the Highlands Environmental Advisory Committee, for following up with The News about Sunday’s event. For those who missed it, there are two other Drive Electric Week events taking place relatively locally this coming weekend: Saturday, Sept. 21 at the SUNY New Paltz, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 22 at Locust Grove (Samuel Morse Estate), 2683 South Road, Poughkeepsie, from noon to 3 p.m.)
