8 Tips For Starting Your Journey to Buying an EV

Ready to start driving an EV but not sure where to start? Here are some tips about how to navigate the EV Buying Experience:

Tip 1: Determine your driving needs

How far do you dri­ve on a typ­i­cal day? Are you an adven­tur­ous dri­ver who often likes to nav­i­gate back­roads? Do you need a cer­tain tow­ing capac­i­ty? Do you rely on all-wheel dri­ve? How many seats do you need? How much car­go space is right for you? We rec­om­mend that you cal­cu­late your mileage needs over a 1–2 week peri­od to see how many miles you dri­ve each day. Most Amer­i­cans dri­ve an aver­age of 37 miles a day, but many believe they go far beyond that. All bat­tery elec­tric vehi­cles and most plug-in hybrid vehi­cles have at least a 37-mile bat­tery range and some have ranges as high as 320 miles, eas­i­ly meet­ing your dai­ly needs, what­ev­er they may be!

Tip 2: Go for a test drive!

Dri­ving an EV is an expe­ri­ence that can­not be replaced—be sure to get behind the wheel of an EV to get a feel for some of the more unique (and fun) fea­tures of these cars. You can find local events that offer ride & dri­ve activ­i­ties, test dri­ve an EV at a deal­er­ship or show­room, or you may even be able to test dri­ve an EV through your local utility!

Tip 3: Get in touch with local EV drivers

There is no bet­ter way to learn about what it’s like to dri­ve an EV than talk­ing to a local EV dri­ver. Con­tact your local EV Club or reach out to us to be con­nect­ed to a Coach in your region. They can give you tips and tricks for dri­ving EVs in Col­orado far beyond any­thing you will find online.

Tip 4:  Learn your local charging landscape

Not sure where you will charge when you are out run­ning errands? What about when you are at work? Check out a charg­ing app like PlugShare, EVGo, or Charge­Point to learn more about where charg­ers are placed around your com­mu­ni­ty. You might be sur­prised about how con­ve­nient some of these loca­tions are! If you can’t find a charg­er near your work­place or mul­ti-unit hous­ing build­ing, think about talk­ing to the man­agers of the build­ings to see if they can meet your needs for EV charg­ing or get in touch with a Coach!

Tip 5: Decide on your personal charging needs

You can charge your car by plug­ging into a stan­dard out­let. How­ev­er, after learn­ing more about your range needs, you may deter­mine that you need a high­er-pow­ered charg­er in your home. If you decide that you want to lev­el up, spend some time learn­ing about instal­la­tion costs, elec­tric­i­ty rates, and the dif­fer­ent types of charg­ers avail­able for res­i­den­tial homes.

Tip 6: Determine your budget and learn about financial incentives for EV purchases

You can save mon­ey on the pur­chase or lease of an EV and/or the instal­la­tion of a Lev­el 2 charg­er in your home through tax cred­its received from the Fed­er­al Gov­ern­ment. Don’t for­get that you get sav­ings from the State of Col­orado as well! And you may also qual­i­fy for sav­ings through your local util­i­ty. Talk to a finan­cial advi­sor or a ReCharge Col­orado coach to learn more about these finan­cial incentives.

Tip 7: Talk to your Utility Company

Your util­i­ty may offer incen­tives for the pur­chase of an elec­tric vehi­cle or instal­la­tion of Lev­el 2 charg­ers in your res­i­dence. Addi­tion­al­ly, it is impor­tant to under­stand how your elec­tric­i­ty bill will increase when you charge your car at home. We rec­om­mend talk­ing to an expert to under­stand what dif­fer­ent charg­ing rates mean and how they can affect your bill. Check if your local util­i­ty offers rebates here.

Tip 8: Celebrate with Others

After you pur­chase your EV, be sure to take your friends for test dri­ves so they can enjoy the amaz­ing world of EVs along with you!