Cooperative Living June 2018 - 27

and plans to scale that up to $60 billion.
One of the most radical new notions
about electric vehicles, advises Sloboda,
is to think of them not as cars or trucks,
but as consumer electronics.
" The internal combustion engine is
a perfected technology, so those cars
aren't improving at a very rapid pace, "
says Sloboda. " But electric vehicles are
evolving at a very rapid pace, so you're
really kind of comparing it to a
cellphone or a computer. "
What that means for consumers,
says Sloboda, is that they might consider
leasing an electric car rather than buying
one, to make it easier to trade in the
car to take advantage of the annual
improvements in battery life and
other features.
Other unexpected benefits of electric
vehicles that could speed their
acceptance, says Sloboda, include range,
maintenance and more competitive costs.
Will I run out of juice?
The electric vehicle industry has a
term for the biggest roadblock to its
growth - range anxiety. But Sloboda
says the fear of getting stranded far
from home with no way to refuel may
be overblown and getting less concerning.
" The range on the electric cars you
can buy today is perfectly sufficient to
cover almost everyone's daily
commute, " he says. Sloboda says that
while electric cars won't work for
someone regularly commuting 100 miles
a day, " For most people, even in rural
areas, that number is under 40 miles a
day. Most electric cars on the market
today have between a 120-mile range
and some of them are getting close to
200 miles. "
The Federal Highway Administration
reports the average American drives 37
miles a day.
Less Hassle
Electric car acceptance doesn't need
to wait for a network or charging stations
to appear around the country, says
Sloboda. He sees refueling more like this:
You plug your car into an outlet in your
And regenerative braking in electric
cars uses the electric motor to slow the
car rather than relying only on brake pad
friction. Sloboda says, " A lot of electric
vehicle owners are saying they've never
replaced their brakes because you just don't
have the physical wear and tear on the
brake pad. "
Costs are coming down
Sloboda says electric car costs today
make them a luxury car, but that's
changing. As electric car research,
development and production increase,
costs will be coming down. Tax breaks
for electric cars at the federal level and
in some states can reduce costs by
The 2017 Ford Focus can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 6 to 11 seconds, which is about
average for all U.S. cars.
garage at the end of each day and by
morning it's fully charged.
" No more having to stop and fill your
tank up once or twice a week, " he says.
" You can charge it at home while
you're sleeping and wake up to a
full tank every single day. "
Electric cars can also save
on maintenance,
says Sloboda.
" With an electric
vehicle, you don't
have oil changes, and
you don't really have
transmission fluid
changes, "
he says.
several thousand dollars. And Sloboda
notes that electricity costs less per mile
than gasoline.
But one of the main reasons drivers buy
electric cars is for environmental reasons.
Sloboda says an electric car " is cleaner
than a gas-powered car, no doubt about it. "
Another advantage of an electric
car, he adds, is that " you're powering
it with electricity from your local
electric co-op. " 
Paul Wesslund writes on cooperative issues
for the National Rural Electric Cooperative
Association, the Arlington, Virginia-based
service arm of the nation's 900-plus consumerowned,
not-for-profit electric cooperatives.
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June 2018 | Cooperative Living | 25
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Cooperative Living June 2018

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