Last Update: June 25, 2015

It’s all well and good to buy an electric vehicle to save the planet, or because it’s the latest cool thing. But, what about your pocketbook? That’s the question many ask, is spending extra moolah worth saving the planet?

As we’ve covered elsewhere, currently (mid-2015) the electric car MSRP is higher than for equivalent gasoline cars. That factoid makes many people shy away from buying an electric, thinking they’re too expensive. But, the higher MSRP is only a small part of this, and it’s possible to reap enough savings to make an electric car purchase financially feasible. Despite both those points, the other reasons for buying an electric car are very compelling. The same can be said for other climate change mitigation actions like buying LED light bulbs.

Will climate change make an economic impact on ones life? Does climate change, environmental degradation, etc make you think of dollars leaving your pocket?

Maybe “we” don’t act unless we see a pressing need. We evolved with the ability to identify a pressing threat, like a bear charging out of the woods, but it means we’re largely incapable of recognizing a far away threat which requires a long time to unfold. For example, it’s easy to figure out ones cell phone plan is too expensive and then go shopping for a better one. But if one’s car worsens climate change, for which the perception is vague threats of non-monetary damage in some indistinct future, how much incentive is there to make a real change?

That’s what we hope to discuss in this section. A real look at

Altruism goes only so far, and many people are unwilling to spend much more to purchase a different vehicle just because it is cleaner. This view is short sighted because of the global climate crisis that’s unfolding, and the expected terrible impact we’ll suffer over the course of climate change. We simply can’t afford to wait to take action on climate change.

Climate change isn’t the only crisis looming in front of us. We’re facing increasing shortages of fossil fuels, which will inevitably cause inexorable inescapably rising fossil fuel prices.

About the Author(s)

David Herron : David Herron is a writer and software engineer focusing on the wise use of technology. He is especially interested in clean energy technologies like solar power, wind power, and electric cars. David worked for nearly 30 years in Silicon Valley on software ranging from electronic mail systems, to video streaming, to the Java programming language, and has published several books on Node.js programming and electric vehicles.
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