Each day I commute 33 miles to and from work – that’s nearly 70 miles round trip! Living and working in the Phoenix area means that traffic is congested and often we have days where a brown cloud hangs over the city. Knowing I needed to do my part for the environment, and selfishly wanting to get access to the carpool lane, I finally made the switch to a fully electric vehicle.
In Arizona, having an Alternative Fuel vehicle allows you not only access to the carpool lane during restricted times, it also means a reduced annual car registration fee to just $30! Armed with this knowledge I set out to find my electric car. A Tesla was too far out of my price range and other options, like the Nissan Leaf, didn’t seem to have the mileage to get me to and from work without charging on site.
I finally settled on the BMW i3. I bought a used one, still under warranty, and a maximum range of 81 miles! Just enough to get me to and from work. Luckily, my husband still drives a gas powered vehicle which we use for longer trips.
While my i3 can charge using a traditional 110-volt outlet we went ahead and installed a super charger in our home allowing me to get a full charge in 3 hours vs. 17 hours!
Below you’ll see that it cost me $26 to drive a distance of 1,226 miles which is savings of $112. Using an app on my phone I can control when my car charges – which is during non-peak hours.
In addition to the savings, I have also seen my commute time reduce by at least 30 minutes each way! Saving me more than five hours a week that would otherwise be spent just.sitting.in.traffic.
Most importantly, is the impact of driving electric has on the environment. ChargePoint sends me a recap of my driving impact on the environment which shows I saved 139 kg of greenhouse gas emissions which is the equivalent of planting 3.5 trees that grow for 10 years!
If you’re thinking of making a switch to a fully electric vehicle I highly recommend it. Aside from the environmental and monetary benefits, saving time on my commute, and not having to stop at a gas station, have proven to be worth the moments I have to drive without air conditioning! Which, truth be told, I sometimes have to do when I’m running low on miles.
-Tina Swail
Vice President – Operations
