Mayor Rob Marlowe
We have been reimagining New Port Richey for the last several years. The goal continues to be to make a series of fundamental changes to bring New Port Richey into the 21st Century and position it as a place where people want to live, work, and play. You’ve seen it with the remodeled Sims Park and businesses popping up downtown.
Recognizing that a modern city needs modern amenities, we have installed three dual port “destination” charging stations around town. Morton Plant Northbay Hospital has also installed a similar dual port charging station. Much to the surprise of some staff members the stations are getting used on a regular basis. The owners of a variety of plugin cars are taking advantage of the stations.
This Saturday, September 8th, we will be hosting our first EV cruise-in, an “Electric Tailgate Party” where over two dozen electric vehicles will be shown off by their owners. The event runs from 10-2 and is open to everyone who would like to learn more about electric vehicles.
We will also have some of our local car dealers in attendance offering test drives if you’d like to experience one of these cars yourself.
There are two major complaints about electric cars: They are too expensive and have a limited range. Both of these complaints don’t hold up on examination.
New electric vehicles are surprisingly affordable, even without considering any federal tax credits. The average new car costs around $36,000. The Chevy Bolt, Chevy Volt, and the Honda Clarity plugin can be purchased in that general price range. The Nissan Leaf and several other plugin cars are available for less. Late model used electric vehicles can be purchased at even lower prices.
A typical pure electric vehicle has a range of 85-100 miles between charges. That is enough range to cover the needs of probably 90% of the drivers in our area. The 2018 Nissan Leaf has a range of 150 miles and the Chevy Bolt has a range of just shy of 250 miles. Tesla models typically have a range of around 300 miles between charges. The Leaf and Bolt can be purchased with fast charging options that make long distance trips possible. Teslas come standard with fast charging capability. In short, range anxiety, or worrying if you’ll have enough charge to get somewhere, simply isn’t that big of an issue.
For people who routinely drive long distances, a plugin hybrid is an option. My son drove his plugin Prius from California to Florida, towing a U-Haul trailer! I’ll have the Prius at the event so you can check it out.
New Port Richey is a golf cart friendly city. Some of the owners of electric golf carts have discovered that our city charging stations include 110v plugs just for them!
I hope that you will join us this Saturday.
Rob Marlowe, Mayor