Compared to the same
period in 2012, electric vehicle sales doubled in the first 6 months of this
year. According to this U.S. EnergyDepartment Release, “plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) sales tripled from
about 17,000 in 2011 to about 52,000 in 2012. During the first six months
of 2013, Americans bought over 40,000 plug-in electric vehicles (PEV), more
than twice as many sold during the same period in 2012.”
Surely, this sharp
rise in sales is due, at least in part, to the reality that it costs on average
$1.18 per “gallon” of electricity to power an electric vehicle compared to the
national average of $3.49 for the dirty oil that conventional automobiles consume.
U.S. consumers can use the Department of Energy’s newest tool, the
eGallon, to compare the costs of fueling electric vehicles vs. driving
on gasoline depending on location.
The U.S Energy Department also reports that sales of modern electric vehicles, which entered the
U.S. market in late 2010, are out-pacing those of the early years of hybrid
vehicles.
This is good news for
our environment and our air quality here in Florida.
Making the switch to electric vehicles
will make a distinct and measurable difference in the amount of oil we consume
and the amount of tailpipe emissions each one of us are responsible for. Every conventional internal combustion engine on the road that we replace with a zero emission electric
vehicle, we are displacing thousands of gallons of gasoline and tons of
smog-producing air pollutants – not to mention saving big bucks on our gasoline
costs. It’s a win-win.
EVs are the cleanest cars around, even after taking into account
the electricity needed to charge them. Even better yet, as we retire more coal
plants and bring cleaner sources of power online, the emissions produced from
charging an electric vehicle will drop even further. But as long as our highways are dominated by
gas stations rather than EV-charging stations, it will be very hard for us to
take these crucial steps to move beyond oil.
To learn more and see how you can get
involved, visit our Florida Healthy Air Campaign Facebook page.
