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I have owned an EV for 5 years. I have a 2018 Tesla Model 3 medium range. Its initial range was about 260 fully charged. That really hasn’t diminished since the time I first started driving it. I generally charge it to 80 percent of the battery; this was recommended for longer battery life. My driving habits are fairly consistent as I drive about 46 miles roundtrip each day. At first, I just plugged the car into a 110 overnight and nearly went back what I used for the day.

Eventually, I upgraded to a 220 socket, as I got an electrician out to the house to install it. The local co-op (OEC), is great to work with, gave me a reduced cost for charging during nighttime and a partial rebate on the installation. I charge my car 99 percent at home. As I stated, I generally use this as a work vehicle and then running errands on the weekend. I am not a Dallas shopper, so long range trips are not too much of a concern. I do enjoy the acceleration of the car and the handling. I enjoy driving and don’t have the fully self-driving option. There are several safety features that I like, but I generally prefer to trust my own driving. I think we are still some years away from “safe” self- driving vehicles.

Last year, we invested in solar for powering the house and purchased a battery backup. Approximately one-third of that cost was given as a credit on our federal taxes. Probably 10 months of the year, excess power is provided by the solar panels, which power the house and the EV. Then the additional power generated by the system is purchased by my cooperative on behalf of WFEC.

My wife and I drive less than 10,000 miles a year total for both vehicles we own. Until we bought our used 2019 Hyundai Ioniq (all electric BEV) through Carvana in March 2024 we had two beat up 10+ year old vehicles. Not having a car payment was nice but the driving experience was not. Because of the ‘Happy Wife, Happy Life’ principle, she usually gets to drive the newer model year EV for errands, etc., despite working fully remote. I have an 18 mile round trip daily commute. We mainly bought an EV to reduce the negative environmental impacts of driving a gasoline vehicle.

Owning and operating an EV has mostly been unremarkable, but in a positive way. We charge somewhat sporadically at home on a 110V outlet but the car is till mostly fully charged. It took about 3 minutes to program the vehicle to only accept a charge during utility offpeak hours as we’re on a time of use electricity rate. At some point, I’ll call my utility provider to make sure we’re getting the best rate as an EV household. Fewer trips to the gas station, one less vehicle that needs an oil change. Warming up and cooling down the vehicle in the garage without worrying about exhaust filling our home. I like the beefy regenerative breaking for city driving. Instant acceleration is outstanding especially on highways but I’ve had to be careful about speeding because I don’t have any guilt about burning excess fuel putting pedal to metal.

I don’t foresee us ever buying a non plug-in vehicle moving forward. At some point (maybe after the first full year of ownership) I’ll try to make some calculations on how much we’re saving on fuel cost, but that wasn’t the primary motivator. We’ve used level 2 charging occasionally, but only twice when we even needed it. We learned the hard way on a drive from OKC to Claremore that the vehicle had an issue getting a fast charge (should have done a test charge before hitting the turnpike) – got there thanks to some level 2 which delayed our arrival by a few hours. Took the car to a dealership upon our return home to determine the issue and they ordered a part (under warranty) that hopefully will fix the issue.