Steve Emanuelli: Math doesn't add up for using only electric vehicles

To The Daily Sun,

This month, Michigan Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow bragged that on her way to Washington, D.C., she drove past "every single gas station" in her brand-new electric vehicle "and it didn't matter how high [gas] was.” Let's examine what she bragged about. Assuming she left from Detroit, it is roughly 525 miles to Washington, D.C. On a full charge, assuming that she didn't exceed any speed limits, get caught in any traffic jams, or had the air temperature in excess of 90 degrees, she could travel 200 to 225 miles. This means that she would have had to stop at least twice to recharge her vehicle. Now it takes 40 hours to fully recharge the car. This means that would have to sleep over two nights at a hotel for each recharge. So even if she stayed in a Motel 6 (which I doubt), she would have an additional $400 expense. Then add the cost of charging the car at $45 per charge. And of course you have to add in the cost of meals for her five-day trip.

Now my Chevy Trax gets 32 miles per gallon on the highway. On a 525-mile trip, I would use roughly 16.5 gallons and would need to stop once to refuel (probably when I would stop for lunch). At $5 per gallon for gas, my cost would be $82.50, less than the costs of her two charges, and I could be there in one day.

Looking at the costs of driving locally, my Trax gets 26 MPG. To travel the same 225 miles as her fully-charged car would use 8.5 gallons which would be $42.50 at $5 per gallon. Once again, my Trax is cheaper. And my Trax cost nowhere near what she paid for her electric vehicle.

Steve Emanuelli

Laconia