Heading into college in 2010, both Amy and I were fortunate enough to have parents that could provide us a means of transportation. Amy was gifted a 2010 Diesel Volkswagon Jetta (currently available to buy for a loving owner!) and I had been given a 2009 Subaru Impreza. My experience with cars was not a particularly positive one. The Subaru rattled, creaked, and broke in ways I did not know a car could on an annual basis, until it eventually gave up and decided to explode in a Tractor Supply. Even in death it managed to cause trouble, as the parking lot it stayed at overnight was robbed that evening, resulting in a morning visit from the sheriff with us as possible suspects. Yeah… In the end, we donated the husk of a car to public radio in exchange for a yearlong PBS membership. We absolutely won that trade.
Fortunately, Amy’s Jetta was much more reliable, accompanying us throughout life from State College to Downingtown to Exton to East Concord without so much as a coil whine. Unfortunately, a FWD diesel sedan serving as the only car in a household that lives on a freezing cold plateau that got 225 inches of snow last year felt somewhat limiting at times. There comes a point where you’re sitting in some stranger’s driveway waiting for your fuel to ungel that you find yourself thinking “maybe we don’t need to live like this”. Also the radio didn’t work. And so the one-sided decision was made to do neither of us had done in our 33 years on this mortal plane: purchase a car
Like all major purchasing decisions in this household, I was assigned the leadership role in car hunting, due to my tendency to obsessively research topics for months until I’m comfortable enough to blog about it. Unfortunately, living with my Subaru for 11 years, I had no working knowledge of cars other than they’re loud, they explode, and are sometimes involved in larceny. After forming a focus group panel with members of the family, some baseline criteria emerged for our car purchase:
- It had to be an SUV such that it was roomy enough to transport goods to and from the farmers market. (requested by Amy)
- It could not be a truck because Zach would crash that in a week at best. (requested by Zach)
- It had to be a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) so that any picky climate scientists in the household wouldn’t complain about VOCs on their trip to the grocery store once a month. (requested by anonymous)
After 6 months of research, one clear winner emerged that fit all of our criteria: The RAV4 Plug-in. Yeah, RAV4… real original. I bet you were expecting something much more interesting from the guy who wrote a 3 part series on heat pumps. The reality is that the RAV4 Plug-in was the perfect car for our needs:
- Incredibly roomy interior with lots of storage for farmers markets
- Not a truck
- Toyota has the most reliable hybrids on the market, with 50 miles of battery-only range per charge.
Okay we did not get a RAV4. While we were set on going that route, the reality is that the RAV4 Plug-in is a $50,000 car with a $5,000 interior, and the only way we’d ever spend $50,000 on a car is if we were selling eggs for $50 a dozen. With the current administration set to end the EV tax credit on September 30th, I did some sleuthing to see if going full EV was actually practical in the year 2025, both in terms of convenience and affordability. And in doing so, I felt like I stumbled upon some bizarre loophole that’s been missed by the public. So let’s talk about the AWD Chevy Equinox EV.
The AWD Equinox EV is a 5,000 lbs behemoth with 310 HP, nearly double its gas counterpart. It’s equipped with heated seats and a steering wheel, a 360 camera, and all the basic tech and safety features you’d expect in 2025. The interior is quiet, thanks in large part due to the electric engine. And all of this at the cost of $40,000 – federal tax credit – state tax credit – promotional discounts – dealer desperation wait did we just walk out the door with this for $25,000 new? Literally half the price of the RAV4 Plug-in we were originally considering, for a much nicer vehicle. And it’s purple(ish)! But all of these benefits come at the price of being all-electric. Can Snowy Brook Farm survive without a gas vehicle? It turns out it’s not only easy, it’s actually fun!
There is a general misconception among the public that owning an EV requires special, expensive equipment. Personally, we charge our car with a 120V outlet. Yes, the thing you plug your laptop into. MATH ALERT! With 120V at 12 amps and a 60% charge efficiency, this outlet is equivalent to 21 kwh of energy per day. The Equinox EV averages 3.4 miles/kWh. Thus, a daily charge with a 120V outlet equates to ~70 miles a day. Thinking of driving more than 70 miles on a day? That’s okay too, because you’re not starting from empty. The car has an 89 kWh battery, which means at any given time you have as much as 89*3.4 = 303 miles of range. If you use 150 miles one day and 40 miles the next three day, you’re still fully charged averaged over 4 days! Unless you’re driving 100 miles a day every day, you may never need anything other than a normal outlet to fuel your car.
Depending on where you live, there may actually be free Level 2 charging stations (think, dryer plug) in your community as well. There are days where Amy and I will go to the park to play tennis, plug in at the park’s charging station, and come back sweaty with a free 30 miles of charge. We essentially got paid to play tennis (I’m practically Djokovic). Vet appointment? Free charging station in the community parking lot next door. Library? Charging station. Hospital? Yup, free charging station. And for the one or two times a year in which we do need to travel over 300 miles in one sitting, there are plenty of fast chargers along highway routes that will give your car 200 miles in 30 minutes. And 30 minutes isn’t an inconvenience; it’s an excuse to get Chinese food.
This is not to say an EV is the right choice for everyone. Someone who frequently travels 300+ miles a month is not going to want to eat that much Chinese food waiting for their car to charge. Renters without access to an outlet to charge their car should also stay away. But for the majority of commuters… the current reality is that until the tax credit goes away on September 30th, you can get a new car with the performance and responsiveness of a sports vehicle for the price of a 5 year old used RAV4.
It also produces no VOCs/smog and has a substantially smaller carbon footprint, but who cares about that part.
And so, without further ado, I present our first ever car purchase, and hopefully our last one for the next 15 years. Say hello to Eevee the Purple(ish) Equinox EV
