Electric Car

Colorado was not the first state I rollerbladed in, the first state I geocached in or the first state I hiked in. However, Colorado will hold one distinction in my book:

• The first time I ever drove an electric car (note: not a hybrid– purely electric)

On Thursday, my uncle lent me his electric RAV4 to drive around Boulder. It was obvious to all that I was driving an electric vehicle. Nothing to do with performance. Rather, there were big stickers on all sides of the vehicle:

EV
Electric Vehicle

On a side note, a number of years ago, Barrett A implemented a hilarious satire of the frat boys who liked to put stickers on their suped up cars to advertise the make of their vehicle and subsequently, their perceived prowess. Barrett put huge, giant white stickers that covered both sides of his grey, beat-up mini-van that read:

Powered By
Plymouth

Anyway, I have to say I rather enjoyed the electric vehicle. It was great for commuting through town, seeing the University of Colorado and shopping at Pearl Street Mall. I also enjoyed being able to tell my uncle, “I would offer you gas money, but…” 🙂

The only thing I found unnerving was the lack of noise when I was starting the vehicle. Everytime I turned the key, my pulse would momentarily rise when I did not hear the engine turn over. I’d have to be reassured by the green “Ready” light on the dash that everything was in fact normal and that I did not break my uncle’s car.

Other than that, I didn’t notice slow acceleration or any other kind of negative aspect of the vehicle. And with it being powered by my Uncle’s solar panels, I was in one of the most (if not the most) ecologically friendly vehicles in Boulder. It was a little, tiny, tiny bit of penance for the fleet of SUVs I’ve manned the last decade.

P.S. In Colorado, because of their high altitude– they sell 85 octane gas!