First of all let me say that I don't believe in man made catastrophic climate change. I've never seen any convincing data that seems to prove it. I have seen the reports of computer models that indicate its probability, but I am more inclined to believe in the Easter bunny that lays Easter eggs than I am to believe in computer models that tackle a problem as complex as the earths climate. On the other hand I have seen lots of data compilations that indicate that CO2 has been a lot higher in the past and did not cause catastrophic climate change. You can do your own investigating and reach your own conclusions.
I am not writing this to try to convince any one about climate change one way or the other. What I am doing is explaining why I, a skeptic or denier would drive an electric car. After all I don't think more CO2 is gonna hurt anything. In fact I suspect that the overall effect on the earth would be positive. No I don't drive an electric car to reduce CO2. I drive an electric car because (1) it is economical and (2) I like it.
In all fairness mine would not be as economical as it is were it not for some subsidies that the US Government and the State of Georgia were dishing out a few years back. Thanks to the subsidies, a lot of people in Georgia leased electric cars. After 2 or 3 years, the leases ran out and the people leasing the cars turned them in. The initial cost of the electric vehicle, mine is a 2013 Nissan Leaf, was kind of pricey but thanks to the subsidies there was a bit of a surplus of these vehicles coming off lease in late 2015 and early 2016. I was in the market for a new-to-me vehicle at that time and the leaf represented a nice car, with not too high of mileage at a very attractive price. I know, some of you are rolling your eyes and saying that I am a hypocrite as I am constantly bemoaning the fact that our government is always interfering in our economy but then I turn around and take advantage of one of their subsidies. Well first of all I did not get the subsidy myself, that went to the original lessee. I only benefited by paying a lower price for the used vehicle because of the glut that the original subsidy caused. And second, I pay money to the government in taxes every year and they waste lots of it, the least I can do is try to recover some of that wasted tax money whenever I get a chance.
In addition to getting a nice little slightly used car at a decent price, the thing is fun to drive and economical to operate. It averages 5.0 miles per kilowatt hour. My electricity costs about 11.8 cents per kilowatt hour which means my fuel cost is about 2.36 cents per mile. At the current cost of gasoline $2.099 (6may2017), I would have to get 88.9 mpg on an internal combustion powered car to have the same fuel cost per mile. Also I never have to change the oil because it does not have an engine with a crankcase. In a few years I will have to replace the traction battery and right now that would be very expensive but I am fairly confident that by the time I must replace mine the technology will have improved and the cost per kwh will have reduced.
So there you have it. I don't have any problem with CO2, in fact I think that additional CO2 is probably a good thing but I am not an ideologue, I have no problem driving a vehicle with a zero emissions sticker on the side if it is fun to drive and saves me money.
