http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/business/electric-cars-expensive-up-front-economical-to-operate-owners-say/article_6f6999f0-5bf0-11e5-b640-23011f2b9d6b.html Electric cars: Expensive up front, economical to operate, owners say September 15, 2015 MARTIN DeANGELIS
[images / Michael Ein http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/pressofatlanticcity.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/a/f4/af46ad32-d290-5bb0-b3fc-dda2c5b2b7f9/55f86b8edb2d4.image.jpg Ron Hutchison, of Northfield, sits in his 2014 Mitsubishi MiEV electric car , Tuesday Sept. 15, 2015, at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority wind farm in Atlantic City during their electric vehicle event. The Hutchison family has three electric vehicles in addition to solar-powered home http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/pressofatlanticcity.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/1/5b/15bf2ef2-c0da-5935-9fa8-29131f993334/55f86b9040011.image.jpg Mary Demarest of of the Whiting section of Manchester Twp., displays her 2014 BMW i3 electric vehicle http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/pressofatlanticcity.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/3/bc/3bc16f8c-1973-5e57-aa5c-e67ce180fbd0/55f86b8f30b31.image.jpg Volkswagen eGolf owner Bob Kast, of Maplewood, Essex County, left, talks to Anne Maiese, of Ventnor, about her Testa Model S ] Ron Hutchison has 50 solar panels on the roof of his Northfield home, and three electric-powered cars in the driveway. He says the 12-kilowatt solar system generates enough power to run a 90-year-old, all-electric house — and to put most of a year’s worth of local mileage on the cars. “We can drive basically on New Jersey sunshine for 15,000 miles a year,” says Hutchison, who likes to commute by bike to his job, teaching biology at Stockton University. He told his story Tuesday in the shade of the solar array and windmills at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority’s water-treatment plant in Atlantic City. The occasion was the ACUA’s National Drive Electric Celebration, which brought together the owners of electric vehicles ranging Hutchison’s modest Mitsubishi I-Miev to the famously fast, and famously pricey, Teslas that several local owners came in. The ACUA also showed off its own fleet of electric vehicles, and car chargers that are open to the public during normal business hours at the treatment plant. Those chargers are powered by wind and sun, and they’re free too — but the ACUA’s own vehicles always get top priority, a spokeswoman said. ACUA President Rick Dovey started a brief program by acknowledging that skeptics question how environmentally friendly plug-in vehicles actually are, given that the electricty that propels them may be generated by pollution-rich power plants. But he still believes in the electric vehicle, or EV. “No tailpipe — that’s a significant thing,” Dovey said. “The grid is evolving. Our electricity is among the cleanest in the country. New Jersey is a good place to have an electric vehicle.” Jim Donio, of Hammonton, came in his 2013 Tesla Model S, and with lots of reasons why the car made sense for him. “I’m a huge proponent of American-made ... of technology and innovation, and of sustainability,” he said. “For me, this bundles all that up into one package. And I’m really not a car guy.” But he is generous about giving out test drives, including one he let his brother-in-law take. This guy knows speed — he’s a military pilot who flies fighter jets. And after testing the Tesla, the pilot said the 0-60 pickup in 4 seconds reminded him of the feeling of taking off in a jet. Donio noted that in the next few years, Tesla plans to release far more economical models — as cheap as $35,000 to $40,000, by many reports. He smilingly declined to say how much he paid for his Tesla, except that it was “a lot more than $40,000, I’ll leave it at that.” Plus he says that after the initial outlay, it’s an amazingly cheap car to operate. He can charge it free at one of Tesla’s network of “superchargers” around the country — although there isn’t one in South Jersey yet. He also knows of a supercharger in a parking garage outside New York where he can park free if he uses the supercharger. Michael Schumaker, the manager of The Wave parking garage in Atlantic City, said the use of the six chargers there is also free, and the lot attendants are all trained in how to use them right. But drivers do have to pay the normal parking charge, he added. Other electric drivers also talked up the low cost of driving once they buy the cars. “People don’t realize that there’s no sales tax in New Jersey on zero-emission vehicles,” said Mary Demarest, who drove her BMW I-3 from Manchester Township, Ocean County, and calls herself an “EV evangelist,” a member of the New Jersey Electric Auto Association. Jeff Winser, another NJEAA member who drives an all-electric Honda Fit, called it “the cheapest car I’ve ever owned.” All the EV drivers also talked about the environmental benefits, including Hutchison. He likes to surf in Margate, and he says he realized one day that he was polluting his planet on his way to enjoy the ocean. He traded in a 22-year-old car and bought one electric, then replaced another old car with another old electric. He started adding solar to the house in two installments. But he’s not just some environmentalist true believer. He says dollars were one green factor in all these moves. He figures the cost of the solar addition will be paid for in four to five years — or if the cost of gasoline and electricity stay relatively low, maybe a bit more. “Then I looked at our retirement account ... and said, ‘I can just do better’” by investing in making his own energy. “Maybe that’s just because I’m a bad investor,” Hutchison added, but he couldn’t see any way he could get the same return on his 401-k. “So we’re front-loading our expenses to do it now, in our working years. ... Everything we’ve done to go green has had a net-positive effect” financially. 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