Most people in Palos Verdes, California, my hometown located in Southern California, do not believe in using the term global warming, instead they call it “climate change”. In their minds, changes on earth were brought about by an increase in temperature; however, they never really cared about learning more about the effects of “climate change”. So you can say that I grew up in an area that is not very environmentally friendly.
Luckily I have my dad who is extremely interested in global warming and wanting to save our earth. He made me watch the Al Gore movie, The Inconvenient Truth and explained to me what global warming is but at that age I still did not really understand it. After a couple years my dad went out and bought a Nissan Leaf which I was not too happy about. I thought it was the most unattractive car on the market and did not want to be seen it. To me it looked like a space ship and looked like it was from the future. My dad had to explain to me how this car is going to help our earth and to see pass the unattractiveness. After I started understanding global warming, I started seeing more electric cars everywhere.
I think many people do not buy electric cars because of the way they look which is true but they need to see the pros about the car. Some things you may not know about the leaf is it is 100% all electric, it provides an 84 miles of driving range on a single charge of its 24 kilowatt-hour battery pack, and you can lease it for $200 which is cheaper than putting gas in the car for the month. If the homeowner has solar panels installed in their home than charging the car is totally emission free. It also provides you with an on-the-go charger in case you run out of miles, you can plug it in anywhere. But charging stations are becoming more common in places like malls, grocery stores, drug stores, and even have front row parking. There is also an app where you can see on the go how much charge you have instead of going in your car to look. Other then the fact that the car looks like a space ship, the inside has a button that you move around to put the car in drive, reverse, and neutral.
Getting a Nissan Leaf will save the 100,000 ppm of carbon monoxide from driving a car for a minute. An article I read about electric cars says, “drivers should feel confident that owning an electric vehicle is a good choice for reducing global warming, pollution, cutting fuel costs, and slashing oil consumption”. Buying a Nissan Leaf is one big change to our earth and I read that Nissan Leaf outsold every other electric car manufacturer. In 2011 almost more than 40,000 Americans own a Nissan Leaf and 92,000 globally. Could you imagine what it would do to our environment if 50% of our population owned a Nissan Leaf or an electric car? It is not only saving you money on gas but it is also helping the environment. In conclusion, after owning a Nissan Leaf for three years we put $60,000 miles on the car and it still charged up to 70%.
While searching the internet to learn more about the Nissan Leaf, I came across a blog from a guy about his life owning a Nissan Leaf. I attached the link so you can all read about it
I think electric cars are something we have to get used to because the way we grew up. I think electric cars have advantages and disadvantages but are an ecofriendly car. The Nissan Leaf car would be different because instead of going to the gas station to get gas you charge your car. I feel like this a start in the right direction because it helps our atmosphere. I have actually seen charging stations when I go to the store in San Diego and they look cool. Our society can’t go back and change the damages but instead make changes in the right direction.
I myself, am a native southern Californian and I also drive a Toyota Prius. It is not quite electric, but it has the same goal in mind. I empathize with your embarrassment at first, because I do often get made fun of for my insect-looking vehicle. However, the gas mileage it has, and the usage I have gotten out of my be love Prius have made it all with it.
A girl on my soccer team drives an electric run car and from what I have heard it is a great car. The idea of saving 100,000 ppm of carbon monoxide from going into our atmosphere makes me ask myself why aren’t we all driving these type of cars? Then I realize the supply and demand for everyone to purchase a car that could be considered expensive for people is really hard to do.
When I was young I had very similar views that you did. When I first saw Toyota Prius commercials I was confused why anyone would want to drive around in a car that looks like that. As I got older and began to understand the damage that the emissions our cars produce and how they affect our planet, I began realized that electric and hybrid cars are the future. If we want to keep our air and earth clean, one day everyone needs to have an electric or hybrid car.
I am from the Southern California region as well and over the past few years I have noticed an increase in “green cars”. Not only will these electric cars save the world some gasoline but our air will be less polluted. I think this is a step in the right direction to prevent global warming. However, I feel like if the car designers were somehow able to make these cars more attractive then they would be able to sell more.