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Health & Fitness

The Second Coming of the Electric Car

Are We Finally Ready to Embrace Electric Vehicles (EVs) this Time?

Sales of Electric Cars Tripled in 2012, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has pledged to install Superchargers in the US, Europe and Asia. Here in America, they have already been installed on both coasts, and more are currently being added to the middle states. He is also planning on embarking upon a 6 day, 3,200 mile trip across America in one of the company’s cars. Musk claims the trip can be done with a total of only 9 hours of charge time, or 1.5 hours a day. It looks as if this time, the electric car is here to stay. But do electric vehicles make sense for the average person?

They certainly can! You just need to understand the practical limitations of both the cars and our current infrastructure. Despite the fact that sales of electric vehicles are on the rise, they still represent less than 1% of total vehicle sales in the US. So there’s still not a big demand for charging stations, and without that demand, you probably won’t see a lot of them springing up all over Northern Virginia anytime soon. It should also be noted that battery life is still a limiting factor in driving an electric vehicle on a regular basis. 

But for those of you who have another vehicle you can use for long-distance trips, or who drive short distances the majority of the time, electric vehicles can be a great option. There are the obvious environmental benefits over driving a gas-powered vehicle, such as reducing the amount of pollution you add to the environment and shrinking your carbon footprint. Fuel costs are also significantly lower than gas-powered vehicles: The United States Department of Energy has calculated that a typical EV can run for 43 miles on a dollar's worth of electricity!

As the popularity of EVs contiues to rise, the technology and infrastructure will continue to improve. If you’re looking for a way to do your part for the environment, replacing your gas-powered car with an EV is a great option to look into. It is a practical change you can make in your own life that can actually save you money on fuel costs in the long run. 

If you have any questions about the current market, and how to best take advantage of it, or to chat about all things Real Estate and Construction, Give me a call or text 571-305-2405, or shoot me a message- lsagatov@kw.com

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