I love cars, yet I simultaneously hate them, so let’s rewind to understand why…. Growing quite a bit less than privileged, my family was firmly in the “disposable car” camp – Buy the minimum viable vehicle, drive it until the safety inspection sticker ran out, typically 11 months, sell it for scrap, and repeat. It was all I knew, so it’s what I did, and I can fix anything. Dual overhead cam timing belt jobs in the snow? Done. Fuel pumps? Done. Catalytic converters and oxygen sensors? No problem!
Life went on like this, then I started a family and moved to California with an old Toyota, changed a valve cover gasket, exhaust manifold gasket, flex pipe, catalytic converter, gas tank, and filler neck hose, and had a personal meltdown. I was sick of working on cars. Sure, I was good at it, I was fast, and it saved loads of money, but I was over it. But I didn’t pledge to buy a new gas car and let somebody else work on it, no, because they’d overcharge me and probably do a bad job. No – my plan was to get a car that simply didn’t need to get worked on ever! I was just sick to death of having the smell of gasoline and motor oil on my hands and clothes, and late-night runs to the auto parts.
So I bought an electric car, more than anything as a middle finger to my socket set and oil filter wrench, and it felt good. Now, five years into driving fully electric, all of the other benefits have really made their mark too – the performance, the convenience, the low operating cost, the quiet ride, the lack of nasty smells, no more trips to the gas station at the absolute worst times – and of course, the low maintenance, plus the fact that we can make our own “fuel” on our rooftop with solar. It all adds up to a good decision for our lifestyles, not to mention the whole environmental impact and the air quality. We’re a gas-free family and we’re never going back.
