How often do you really need a car?




We live in anxious times. On top of your many worries, add “range anxiety,” the fear that if you drive an electric car on a road trip, you will run out of juice in the middle of nowhere. This will be a real concern for longer trips until chargers become more widely available. Yet electric car ranges are getting longer (some go up to 350 miles or more on a charge) and chargers are becoming more widely available by the month and year.

Nevertheless, as the above diagram shows, only 2% of car trips are over 50 miles. Some motorists have plug-in hybrid cars that will go 25 to 50 miles before kicking into gasoline mode. If the cars are charged at home regularly, that takes care of almost all of one's daily driving needs without burning a drop of gasoline. (Be cognizant that gasoline for hybrids is not eternal—the future is fully electric.) If you own an e-bike, you could leave the car at home for the majority of your local travel needs. Or in El Cerrito, you could do away with a personal car altogether and use a car-share vehicle like a GIG Car Share when you need to go farther. 

— Steve Price

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