How to Make the Switch to an EV Fit Your Budget

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June 18, 2021

How to Make the Switch to an EV Fit Your Budget

Sarah Clark and her Nis­san LEAF

Switch­ing to an elec­tric vehi­cle doesn’t have to be out of your bud­get. Sarah Clark, Charge Ahead Col­orado Pro­gram Coor­di­na­tor at the Region­al Air Qual­i­ty Coun­cil, felt the urgency to take per­son­al action against cli­mate change and want­ed to reduce her car­bon foot­print by switch­ing to a vehi­cle with zero tailpipe emis­sions. After con­sid­er­ing an EV for two years, she final­ly decid­ed that 2021 would be the year to make the switch, and began her jour­ney to find the right car for her.

Sarah, like many prospec­tive EV buy­ers, start­ed look­ing at new EV mod­els but decid­ed to direct her search towards used EVs instead. Even with fed­er­al and state tax cred­its, many new mod­els end­ed up cost­ing more than a used car. In addi­tion, Sarah want­ed to find a used mod­el with­in her bud­get that had the range and fea­tures she was look­ing for. To gain more knowl­edge about EVs, she test drove a Mus­tang Mach‑E and a Nis­san LEAF, dis­pelling her pri­or per­cep­tions that EVs were slow and rat­tly — they were quite lit­er­al­ly the oppo­site! She also learned about how easy charg­ing real­ly was by test­ing it out at the dealerships.

Sarah moved her search to Craigslist and found a 2018 Nis­san LEAF that brought togeth­er her three most impor­tant cri­te­ria: bud­get, style, and range. With low mileage and a 10-year bat­tery war­ran­ty, it was a low-risk pur­chase that sat­is­fied her urge to do good for the envi­ron­ment. She’s used her car main­ly for errands and short­er out-of-town dri­ves, nev­er hav­ing come close to the 140-mile range lim­it. While Sarah has used PlugShare to locate charg­ing sta­tions, she main­ly relies on Lev­el 2 charg­ing at home. A used elec­tric vehi­cle was the per­fect car for Sarah and with many elec­tric vehi­cles hit­ting the used mar­ket on a vari­ety of car sell­ing sites and plat­forms, it’s eas­i­er to find the right vehi­cle for your lifestyle than ever before.

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