Photos courtesy of Chad Evers
Columbus may be headed for some trouble unless it doesn’t clean up its act – or more specifically, its air.
In 2018 The American Lung Association slapped Franklin County with a big, fat F for its ozone grade in the State of the Air report. Reports from the association have shown improvements over the year but not enough for a passing score quite yet. Community members aren’t ignoring this problem, as shown by the progress documented in the Columbus Annual Sustainability report published each year.
Smart Columbus has promised to work toward an increase in electric vehicle sales by 486 percent by the year 2020. The organization even launched the Smart Columbus Ride and Drive Roadshow, a program that allows people to test drive electric cars and learn about the benefits of eco-conscious driving choices.
It’s no secret that Tesla Motors has pushed the automobile envelope by making environmentally friendly driving not only possible but sleek, innovative and, dare we say, downright trendy. While the idea of electric cars may have not been on the radar years ago, it’s clear the company is now publicly prominent from Tesla’s 280 percent sales increase from 2017 to 2018.
Photos courtesy of Smart Columbus
New Albany is reported to have a significantly high concentration of Tesla owners, which may be attributed to the community’s concern for the environment. Seventy-five percent of cars in the area run on bio diesel fuel and the city received a Smart Community mark by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission for its success in creating eco-friendly programs.
Tesla owner and New Albany resident Chad Evers says he had never thought of purchasing an electric car until he did some research and learned about the advantages of owning a Tesla. Not to mention, the Model X is fast.
“What originally really caught my eye was that I never realized how fast they are. It’s super quick and faster than any other sports cars on the market,” Evers says.
He also realized that there are hardly any maintenance expenses involved. He simply connects it to wifi overnight and in the morning is greeted with a fully charged and updated car.
To Evers, the environmental benefits of owning a Tesla seemed to be the cherry on top.
“Obviously, the environmental piece is a huge plus as well,” Evers says. “It seems that the automotive market is certainly moving closer toward realizing that electric vehicles are good, viable options, and I think Tesla has done a great job of paving the way of that.”
Drivers around the area even participate in meet-ups to showcase their cars and hang out together. It appears that just as Jeep owners have their renowned Jeep wave, Tesla owners consider the car a kind of social experience as well.
“Certainly, if we’re parked next to a Tesla owner or someone is walking by that owns a Tesla they’ll usually speak up and talk about it,” Evers says. “It can also be a kind of unspoken thing.”
As for the skeptics, Evers advises to just go and test drive one before you completely write-off the idea of buying a Tesla.
“It’s hard to tell until you get in one and you feel the acceleration and you feel it put you back in your seat,” Evers says. “It’s different from a normal car.”
Mallory Arnold is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at marnold@cityscenemediagroup.com.
