I'm gonna talk about cars.

I'm gonna talk about cars.

For my whole driving life (from 1999-2017) I drove beater cars.  Cars with major problems.  Cars that broke down and stranded me frequently.  Since I didn't live in a place with public transportation, my friends and family were always having to pick me up, help me fix my car, and/or give me rides.  It was exhausting and stressful.  It was scary; I lived in a rough city and was a single mom often stranded with a child.  It was financially draining to not be able to afford something more reliable, and to keep having to repair something that would eventually strand me again.

In 2017, Shaun bought me a used Nissan Cube.  It was amazing.  It was comfortable.  It was spacious.  It was quirky, which is my style.  It was reliable.  I loved that car, but when we moved states we sold it.

After settling here and getting solar on our house, we found a used Chevy Spark EV for me.  It's a 2016.  It's zippy and reliable and was inexpensive to buy and is inexpensive to charge - especially in off-peak hours and having solar.  I really enjoy it the benefits of having an EV.

Since it's an older EV, it doesn't have a super-long range; it'll charge to go about 80-90 miles before getting scary low, which works for most of my needs.  If you drive it badly and take off fast and slam the breaks, you lose charge fast.  That is the case for most EVs.  If you drive in a calm manner, it can actually recharge itself as you're driving, which is nice.

The downside is that if I find myself needing a charge when I'm out, that sucks.  First of all, the charger that the Spark takes is being phased out on many charging stations.  Secondly, if you don't already know where the fast-charging stations are you can waste range stopping at slow-charging stations, which could have you sitting there for hours.  Also, sometimes the charging stations are closed or vandalized, so it's never a guarantee that you'll be able to charge and you don't usually know that until you get there.  This causes some range-anxiety for me when I'm further away from home, so the Spark has become the household's errand car, which is fine.

While commuting to the internship I started driving Shaun's car because it was reliable.  It gets decent gas mileage, but I have found that I really hate stopping at gas stations and paying for gas.  For one, I prefer to stop for gas when I'm already out, which is usually when I am going to or from work.  So does everyone else, because the gas stations are full and have lines at those times.  For two, I don't like touching the pumps and standing outside and worrying about my card being hacked in the pump or whatever.  For three, the prices are ridiculous.

😆  Yes, I have been spoiled.

I think that if my career takes off and we get back on top of our finances I'd like to look into a long-range EV in the next few years.  I'm opposed to buying cars brand-new off the lot due to depreciation, but a newer used car that has been thoroughly checked out would hit the spot.  The longer-range EVs have range of 200+ miles, so that would give me a good bit more security for driving longer distances.  Ideally I would only charge at home, but even if not, having a charging cord that is not being phased out would make things easier, too.

Anyway, this is not important; it's just something I've been thinking about since driving so much lately.  In the past I had to drive whatever I had access to.  I am currently doing the same thing with Shaun's car, but in a much less dangerous and dire situation.  But if I get to a position financially where I get to be picky about what I drive, I'm 99% sure I'll be looking at a long-range EV.