<\/p>\n
A new group has formed in Durango to promote the use of electric vehicles.<\/p>\n
This fall, the Durango Electric Vehicle Enthusiasts held its first meeting, and pretty early on, a question arose whether the group would simply be a space for electric cars lovers to meet or would it play an advocacy role in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe realized if we want more infrastructure, we need a group to advocate together,\u201d said Sarah Kelly, a Durango resident and group organizer.<\/p>\n
Now, the Durango Electric Vehicle Enthusiasts has about 24 members. It meets once a month at the La Plata Electric Association at 45 Stewart St.<\/p>\n
While electric car owners tout savings in gas money, one major setback to widespread use of the vehicles is infrastructure: namely, charging stations for the car\u2019s limited battery range.<\/p>\n
Durango has several charging stations, but the group would like to see more installed around the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis group advocates for more charging stations around so you can take this economic car and go anywhere,\u201d said Vijay Bastawade. \u201cIf you want a clean environment, (electric cars) have to be up there on your priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since electric cars have become more commonplace, a debate has arisen whether they are really more environmentally friendly than their counterparts, gasoline-powered vehicles.<\/p>\n
Bastawade shrugs off this notion. He said he spends a quarter of what it costs to fill up a tank of gas compared to charging the car electrically. And, he said it costs as much in electricity to refine gasoline as it does to charge a car.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s the best car to drive in the mountains,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Although infrastructure and battery range have been some of the biggest limitations for electric cars, the price of the car itself has historically shied people away from transitioning from gasoline-fueled cars.<\/p>\n
However, an electric vehicle group-buy program coordinated through the Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency this year held a potential savings of more than $22,000 for the Nissan Leaf, which costs $31,500 to $38,000.<\/p>\n
As a result, more than 40 people bought Nissan Leafs in the area, said Durango resident Susan Atkinson.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a huge incentive to take advantage of while we have it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Dorman McShan, another member of the group, said he prefers an electric vehicle to even the highest standard of gasoline-powered automobiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like driving my Tesla more than my Mercedes,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the pure pleasure of driving \u2013 the handling, the power, the all-wheel drive.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it\u2019s quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n
McShan said electric cars are even suitable for mountain living, as the weight of the battery stabilizes the car and makes it drive better in snow.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great ride whether in town or on the highway,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
jromeo@ durangoherald.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" it will push for more charging stations<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2344,259],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-75839","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-road-transport","tag-transportation"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75839"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75895,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75839\/revisions\/75895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75839"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=75839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}