Thank you to Dimitri Shein, executive director of the Alaska Electric Vehicle Association for putting Mike Sommers (president of the American Petroleum Institute) in his place in the Sept. 11 edition of the ADN, with proven data about the number of electric vehicles currently in operation in Alaska and how well they perform year-round.
Sommers said he spent “a couple days in Alaska” and said he didn’t see one EV. I love these outsiders who come up here and in “a couple days” know everything about us! Was he even looking?
Because you can’t hear them coming or going!
I own a 2016 Subaru Outback and a 2022 MINI Cooper two-door hardtop EV. My EV is charged using my 120-volt home outlets.
I use it for running errands around Anchorage and in the Mat-Su. Granted, my EV maximum charge varies depending on season and temperature, from 95-118 miles, and using house power instead of a dedicated fast charger does take longer. But the savings in the cost of gas is worth the time it takes to charge.
From March 2022 through February 2023 I drove my MINI EV about 1,400 miles. At $0.226 per kilowatt-hour, I am getting 60.5 mpg equivalent, and an actual annual cost of $138.51 compared to my 2016 Subaru Outback, which I drove 3,033 miles during the same period at 27 mpg, at an annual cost of $1,013.
That’s a massive saving driving the EV versus the Subaru. Another EV advantage: In a natural disaster like a major earthquake let’s say, no gas stations operating, I can charge my EV with my generator.
Sommers is all about making sure his precious gasoline keeps flowing so his multimillion-dollar salary and golden umbrella stay intact and prosper. Alaskans aren’t stupid.
Thank you to Dimitri Shein for standing up for the nearly 2,300 Alaska EV owners and for all the hard work he and AEVA are doing to procure the necessary federal infrastructure funds and installation of proper and conveniently located multi-stage charging stations across Alaska.
Unfortunately, petroleum will always be an evil necessity for now. I hope science will make it a relic in the near future.
— Patrick Ozment
Anchorage
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