3 things you should stop worrying about with electric cars

My wife and I recently leased a 2018 330e, because we couldn’t talk ourselves into a fully electric model like the i3. There’s uneasiness when it comes to electric, and it’s understandable considering that the average person drives 13476 miles a year and no one want to be left with zero range. I get a little tense when my iPhone charge is under 10%, let alone my range, so a hybrid 330e makes the best of both worlds for us. However, full electric capabilities are advancing at a rapid rate.

Our friends at Google talked with potential auto buyers and put together a really interesting article. Here are 3 things that stood out from the data, that most of us can relate to, but that shouldn’t really be concerning:

• We can’t figure out how much electric cars cost. For example, we know what to expect when it comes to gas prices and MPG, but calculating our electricity cost per kWt and distance is a new concept for most of us. Your local electric utility probably has some great online tools, and maybe even some special pricing plans like SDG&E does for us San Diego residents.
• We are worried about charging reliability issues – what if I wake up and discover I forgot to plug in my car, or can’t find a charging station between home and grandma’s house? There’s an app for that, and your car will probably have built-in smarts for finding a charge too.
• We think unknown technology is unsafe, when really all we’ve changed is the motor from gas to electric. Electric cars does not directly equal self-driving cars or other added tech.

So what should the starting point be when you’re starting to research? Yes, you can talk to anyone here because we’ve all been through more training hours with this stuff than we care to remember. But one tool that we highly recommend is PlugStar (https://plugstar.com/) which is sorta like the Cars.com or Edmunds.com for electric vehicles. You can pick you car, and research costs, rebates, incentives, everything, on one website. Or go for a plug in hybrid (PHEV) and dip your toe in the water…  you’ll be delighted with the experience!

I apologize for all the hyperlinks, but I’m trying to keep this short and sweet and just hit the highlights!Questions or comments? Leave it below or email us at [email protected]