Don't give up on electric cars

It's been three years since my wife has been to a gas station. For her, our all-electric Toyota RAV4-EV is good enough to meet all her daily needs. When she charges it at home using cheap off-peak electricity, we refuel with the equivalent of 75 cents per gallon.

Actually, for us it's free since we generate our own electricity with the solar panels we installed on our roof.

So when I look at our family budget, it's hard for me to accept that EVs don't "yet meet the needs of the economy," as Brenda Bronson suggested in her letter of Jan. 10.

They certainly meet the needs of our own personal economy.

Our rooftop solar panels cost a fraction of what is spent exploring, drilling, transporting, refining and shipping petroleum products around the world, yet my wife can drive all the miles she needs in any normal day without burning a drop of gas.

The true economic cost of our use of fossil fuels will be presented to us, with interest, when the effects of climate change go critical.

We feel lucky to own an EV of such quality as our RAV and believe that many consumers would switch to an EV if they could find one to buy. Unfortunately, no major car company has built an EV since 2003.

Fortunately, you should start to see a new crop of EVs and plug-in hybrids like the GM Volt appearing in showrooms after 2010, allowing you to see for yourself how economical an EV can really be.
Bruce Tucker, s ecretary/treasurer Electric Auto Association
Ventura County Chapter
Thousand Oaks