This story comes to us from Emily, a first time EV owner in Charlottesville, VA.
I’ve been an electric vehicle owner for about nine months now. I got my 2024 Nissan Ariya in June 2024 and I have never loved a car so much! I feel like I’ll never go back. I knew I would love the quality of the driving, but I feel like a teenager again because it’s fun to drive. Before we bought the EV, my husband and I had our “assigned” cars and we did not swap very much unless there was some very specific reason. When I mentioned wanting an EV, he wasn’t very interested, but didn’t care because it would be “my car.” However, now he drives it more than I do!
Switching to an electric vehicle was important to me for environmental reasons. We have solar at home and we use it to charge the car. I love combining solar power and my electric vehicle because I can drive with zero emissions while supporting cleaner energy! For this reason, we typically charge at home, unless we’re on a road trip. My husband and I live close to where we work so we are normally just driving around town for the vast majority of our trips. Being an EV owner is also really important in my work because it’s part of my job to help people understand the importance of transitioning to electric vehicles. Being an EV owner gives me more credibility and helps me to inform others better!
I love combining solar power and my electric vehicle because I can drive with zero emissions while supporting cleaner energy!
Already, I have had the joy of showing the people around me the benefits of the car. A few weeks before I got my EV, I went on a weekend trip with my best friend and her family. Throughout the trip, I was talking about EVs, working on my spreadsheet, and doing some research. My friend’s husband was curious, but also determined he would drive his Subaru until it dies. Then, they went on a trip a few weeks later and rented a hybrid. As soon as they got back, they asked to see the research I had done, and within a week, they had bought one! My dad has also grown to love my EV. He is really jealous of how fun it is to drive and would love to get one in the future.
When I was researching EVs, one of the biggest concerns I saw online was about range. However, from day one, we’ve been bold with it—we bought the car on a Thursday, and by Friday, we were driving it more than 250 miles one way, to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Starting out with a road trip was so exciting and it helped build our confidence. Since then, we have been able to take the car on several long trips!
One trip in particular helped us understand the differences of driving in the cold. It was our first winter with the EV, so there was a bit of a learning curve. Figuring out how to manage the decreased battery capacity from really cold weather was a surprise. Intellectually, I knew that it was coming, but actually going on a road trip and experiencing it firsthand was a challenge. We had to get used to charging more often in colder weather. It also took me a while to catch on to my battery preheater. It took me a few months to learn that it really makes a huge difference to prewarm the battery before fast charging on a road trip. Once I figured that out, it was smooth sailing for my winter road driving. Additionally, now that the Tesla network has opened up to Nissan, it has really expanded charging options and made charging on the go much easier. I now consider myself a qualified winter EV road tripper!
Switching to an EV was the best decision! After experiencing an electric vehicle, I will never go back to gas. One day, I would love to get another one!
