I have yet to hear the pained almost demonic screeching of a tire as a Toyota Prius burns rubber at a stoplight, rocketing its way to the next stop light one block away.
If there is a tricked out Mini Cooper-crushing, chromed and gleaming, 20-feet high, electric powered 4-wheel drive pickup that announces its arrival at a local park with a deep thunderous rattling akin to a diesel engine, I haven’t heard it.
And I still haven’t seen a gang of electric motorcycle riders hijack a freeway lane as the group creates a human barrier to allow one of their members to perform ridiculous stunts such as standing atop the seat arms spread wide, or racing along a mile stretch of pavement on one wheel.
Has the motorcycle industry even started manufacturing electric-powered racers and hogs?
And I still hear more people complaining about the cost of a gallon of gasoline than I do about a kilowatt hour—about $4 vs. 7 cents respectively.
So even while the majority of motorists seem to gravitate toward gasoline powered modes of transportation it is nevertheless encouraging to see electric vehicles gaining traction publicly and privately.
Don’t get me wrong, as an automobile driver dependent on gasoline, I’m still annoyed when I come across precious parking spaces reserved for electric powered vehicles (more often than not they sit empty for hours at a time or are pilfered by gas guzzlers without a moral compass) but I celebrate the move toward environmentally friendly travel.
That’s why the introduction of a pilot program introducing the use of electric vehicles as shuttles for seniors and other Chula Vista residents is a promising step in the right direction.
Initially the fleet of “green” vehicles will consist of only six vans or sedans but the hope is that increasing popularity—and continued funding—will see more electric vehicles in use.
While a good number of people are still not on board with the notion of climate change and global warming (probably the same crowd that believe the earth is flat) they at least can join the rest of the reasonable among us that the cost of operating electric vehicles make economic as well as environmental sense.
