Mahatma Gandhi once said,” Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
Last year saw a change in the collective psyche of the world’s population to the possibilities of the electric vehicle.
This change in thinking was bought about by a government policy shift, a better understanding of the capabilities of electric vehicles, more electric vehicles on the road, greater coverage of electric vehicles by media outlets and meteoric rise of share prices in electric vehicles like Tesla.
Most people
But for the average person, this change has helped to frame the question “what can I do?”
This is the only question most people ask. They ask this when they realize that either they don’t know what they can do, or they realize they don’t have
- enough money
- time
- or motivation to make the change.
Most average people live paycheque to paycheque, sometimes working more than one job to make ends meet.
So it seems almost insurmountable how they could make a decision to buy a car that cost approximately $60000 AUD.
Our EV story
My wife and I were in this very position. We earn a good wage, have a mortgage and school fees and so many other debts and expenses. So how did we end up buying an EV?
We have crunched the numbers for many years about owning a Tesla and I have tweeted Elon over the years asking about the prices and if they would drop.
He agreed prices were high, however since this tweet the prices have come down significantly. We own one car and had a loan on a second fairly new Mitsubishi ASX.
But the ultimate trigger for my wife and I finally decided to take the Tesla purchase plunge was the increase in petrol prices to almost $2 a litre. With my wife’s old vehicle it worked out to be almost $100 dollars a week to fill up her vehicle. That is $400 dollars a month.
Be the change that you wish to see in the world
Mahatma Ghandi
Surprised
My wife came home after filling up and advised that she was going to crunch the numbers and find out if the electric vehicle was possible. It turned out that it was and the difference between what we were paying now for the loan on the car, petrol, maintenance, insurance roadside assistance and tyres, more than covered the cost. Less than a month later we had a brand new Model 3.
Since this time we have found out that owning an electric vehicle is the best decision, we have made for many years. Do we have a loan for a vehicle that we have to pay off, yes, but the money we save on petrol more than makes up for the extra cost of the vehicle.
The reason I am telling you this story is to highlight that we are the average family that I keep talking about, we are not rich and we don’t have lots of money. We just understand that to make the change we have to be the change we wish to see in the world.
We have been advocates of doing something small to help make a change on a bigger level.
” The butterfly effect”, is up to all of us to make small changes that make the world that little bit better for our children and generations to come.
The why
You see I am a medical professional and have seen the best of humanity and also the moments of sadness that comes with death, illness and pain.
If there is something that I can do to help alleviate the pain of others by making better choices then i will try. To own an electric vehicle is one of those choices that we have made.
Owning a Tesla is not for everyone but owning an electric vehicle is possible for all.
Over the coming years owning an EV should get easier as more companies release vehicles and the market becomes more competitive. It, will only get easier as the next couple of years move forward.
Second hand market
In recent history, a lot of owners of the original Nissan leaf have taken the plunge and upgraded to the new Nissan Leaf. This improved the EV marketplace in the second-hand car market. They were snapped up very quickly and are still highly sort after.
The model y when released to the Australian market will hopefully do the same. Existing Model 3 owners may consider taking the step towards the Model Y and thus allow their Model 3 to be taken into the used EV market place which should allow others to buy at a lesser price than brand new vehicles and experience the benefits of electric vehicles.
2022 is the year if the Model Y
(Check out my next blog where I talk about the Model Y and how 2022 will be its year. )
The average person is able to own an electric vehicle as long as it is right for you and your circumstances. Our story is just an example of the possibilities.
Consider your current costs and look at the costs you need for the EV and decide if you are comfortable with the difference if any.
2022 will be an exciting year for EV’s and it would be great to have more people driving them to help the environment and themselves.
Dave