The Mixed Emotions of (finally) Buying into Car Culture.
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Well, leasing. It was a 51/49 decision. With Trump coming in, eagerly seeking to actively harm our planet and roll back America’s belated progress vs. climate crisis, I got an EV—my first car in 16+ years—yesterday.
…with only days to spare before rebates ended/changed. There’s screamin’ deals out there now folks—nothing down $90/month for a new Leaf; more for an Ioniq, what I got.
It’ll be fun for hot springs and camping and other mountain adventures in this country that’s failed to invest in busses and trains. True richness is a walkable city, a bike, public transportation like what they have in much of Europe or Japan—not individual car ownership and traffic stress and health- and relationship-harming commutes.
But sometimes imperfect is so much better than the status quo that’s it’s a more active market driver than “perfect”—ie, just biking and bussing etc. Show the Man and capitalism that the transition away from ICE is doable, fun, practical, better—and urgent, if we’d like to give our children a livable planet.
I hate cars. I don’t love consumerism and debt and spending hard-earned $$$. Along with animal ag, and greed/inequality, and plastics, cars/trucks/amazon shopping n shipping/cargo ships bringing oil…cars represent one of the drivers wrecking our world. I plan on continuing to bike 98% of the time.
But, too, EVs are a vital and fun improvement. At their worst better than ICE. The Ioniq is fun, hip, 300+ mile range, far less polluting for passengers let alone our air, affordable (for now), and I hope it inspires others a little and represents a little bump for the aggression of the incoming Administration.
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And then, this morning, the day after spending all day in the toxic-air plastic/formaldehyde world of car dealerships, I was excited to ride—my bike. Haven’t driven the new car yet. We’ll use it for fun, and for need—but never casually for convenience.
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