Posted by Few days ago, I brought my car to the auto dealer’s service center for regular maintenance. Since it was my day off, I planned on just waiting for it until it is done. After all, an oil change should not take that long, so I thought. I brought a book to read to pass the time.
After more than 30 minutes of waiting, the service representative came out to talk to me and told me that they found something that needed immediate attention on my car, and recommended that we take care of it. But this would take a few hours to fix.
They offered me a shuttle ride to bring me wherever I needed to go, and pick me up when my car is ready. Or if I prefer, they can give me a loaner car for the day and just come back when my car is ready the next day. Of course the shuttle ride nor the loaner car has no additional cost to me.
Learning what kind of vehicle they will lend me, I opted for the loaner car.
What they gave me to drive is a new, top-of-the-line model, with all the bells and whistles. But it is an electric vehicle (EV).
I believe car dealers let you borrow, which is really test driving their new flagship model, as part of their advertising. This way, you will be tempted to trade-in your current vehicle for the new and much expensive model, that you really don’t need, or cannot afford either, unless they lure you to their “financing” trap.
Since they gave me an electric car, knowing that I don’t have a charger set-up at home, means I cannot go very far. It had enough juice to run across town or even to the nearby towns for a day or so. But I cannot go on a joy-ride across the states.
I am still not fully sold on getting an EV. For one thing, we like to go for a long drive, sometimes across several states and time zones. I am not saying that you cannot take an EV on a long road trip, but you need planning and mapping out your trip where the charging stations are, so you would not get stranded in a remote area. However the electric charging infrastructure in the US is getting better, making it easier for owners of EVs to charge their ride wherever they may be.
The other reason why I am not ready to transition to electric car is that I still like to hear and feel the engine growl when I step on the gas. I still love to listen to the engine’s guttural song when I accelerate. Maybe I am old-school, or maybe I just like the visceral feel of the revving engine.
Of course environmentalist would claim that electric cars would reduce global warming and would save our planet. But as of early 2025, only 1.4% of all vehicles on the road in America, and only about 4% of all vehicles in the world are electric. So we’re not saving the world any time soon.
I would not say that I have not driven an electric car before. I drove bump cars in amusement parks, and also operated golf carts before. But I guess that is not the same.
When I drove out of the dealer’s parking lot, what really captivated me was how responsive my loaner car is when I stepped on the accelerator. It delivers instant maximum torque with no lag at all. No noisy growling of the engine, just a silent steady thrust to exhilaration.
It is said that new “ordinary” electric vehicles can achieve 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 4.5 seconds, and the fastest models can achieve it under 3 seconds. That can beat most of the gasoline powered muscle cars!
For 2 days, I drove like a getaway driver with a heavy foot on the gas pedal, ah, er, I mean on the electric pedal….eh, you know what I mean. That goes without saying that I was impressed with my borrowed car. It even has a built-in massage feature on the car seat which I took advantage of, making it one very sweet ride.
Have this experience won me over in trading in my car for an electric one?
Naah. I’ll keep my growling car.
