Electric, Hybrid or Gas?
A no-nonsense guide for real-world drivers who are considering getting rid of their gas vehicles and switching to electric vehicles or hybrid
Last week, Eric and I traveled to Cape May, New Jersey for some beach time and to Philadelphia for a wedding. We decided to rent an electric vehicle (EV) to test one out and see how well they perform. We have been thinking for a while now about getting an EV. We live off the grid and get all our power from the sun, but we still commute using gas vehicles. An EV would mean that we could solar power our car, which would be the next level of sustainable living. We’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews about EVs and we wanted to discover the truth for ourselves.
As a stroke of luck, or misfortune, our EV had a mechanical issue, and we had to trade it in. All they had available was a hybrid, so we were able to test a hybrid as well. I’ve taken all the information we gleaned from our test drives, as well as a whole lot of research and gathered it together in one spot to share with you so you can make an educated decision. In this article, I examine efficiency, gas mileage, ease of repair, cost of maintenance, accessibility, solar power, purchase costs and more. At the end, I share my final recommendations. What’s best for you? Electric, hybrid or gas? Hint: it’s not gas.
Gas is Over, Let’s Move on Already
The national average for gas prices is currently around $4.00 due to the ongoing war with Iran. This is second to the highest ever spike in gas prices in June of 2022 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The recent spikes in gas prices remind us of our global dependence on oil. Many factors can cause an increase in gas prices other than war such as natural disasters, supply chain issues, increase in demand, financial markets, price gauging and more.
The hard reality is that our entire infrastructure is dependent on oil—transportation, agriculture, power, construction, etc.-- and when oil prices increase so does the cost of everything. Until the powers that be cease to suck every last penny out of oil that they can and begin to face the hard reality that oil is a limited resource, we will continue to be dependent on oil and the inevitable inflation of its cost, the cost of all goods and the cost to our environment. It’s obvious to us that we need to convert to alternative sustainable unlimited resources and fast, but our government is stalling. The oil and auto industries are powerful incumbents with deep lobbying capacity, slowing down measures that cut oil demand or refit transit and land‑use. It’s business as usual in the United States where profit often takes precedent.
So, even though our entire infrastructure supports gas fueled cars, they are the least desirable option for cost, environment and stability.
