Two for the Road is a hangout for mystery writers Tammy Kaehler and Simon Wood to chat, reminisce, gossip, speculate and argue about all things motorsport.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Electric Avenue


By Simon
I have a confession to make—I’m thinking of getting an electric car.  Namely a Fiat 500e.

Yes, I know.  Just considering an electric car makes me a traitor to the internal combustion engine faith.  I don’t need your disapproving glares.  I feel the guilt without them.  Hey, at least I’m not thinking of going getting a hybrid.
So why?  Let me explain.  I live in the Bay Area where traffic is crappy pretty 24-7.  Most of my journeys are under 40miles.  An electric car means I can use the diamond lane at any time.  Julie has a crappy commute and she can shave quite a bit of time off getting to and from work and there’s a free charging station at her building.  From a practical standpoint, an electric car makes a lot of sense from what I need out of a day to day mode of transport.

Isn't logic a beautiful thing?
But I am not a logical person.  I am a human being, goddamn it.  I don’t want a mode of transport.  I want to be entertained when I get behind the wheel of a car and a fancy Fiat golf cart isn't going to cut it.  I need a car that looks good, sounds good and knows how to misbehave.   I need a gas-powered car.   I am just flawed that way.  Sorry environment. 
So what am I to do?

Have both.  No one says I have to pick a side.  Look, I can have the greatest car in the world but in commute traffic, it’s no fun at all.  I might as well be driving anything—even an electric car.  But an electric car is going to let me down when it comes to going long distances, for that I need a fun car (with a real engine).  So we’ll have two kinds of car.  One for when I need to get somewhere and one for when I just have to go somewhere.  J

Hey, at least I’ll be holding true to my code that I’ll never own a four-door car.  J

 

No comments:

Post a Comment