Electric Vehicles get their day in the sun

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI)- Some say Electric Vehicles (EVs) may very well be the future of transportation. The Pocatello Electric Vehicle Expo showcased the variety of EVs on the market and those who have taken the leap and purchased the vehicles.

What may come as a surprise to many is that Electric Vehicles are becoming much more affordable for the average American.

"The Nissan Leaf here, is $38,000 and so not only that price, you have to stop and think about your day-to-day basis, how much this is going to cost you to run? What's it going to cut down on the fuel mileage that you have to use gas for?" said Barry Carstensen from Cole's Nissan Kia.

For, those who own EVs, made the leap because they wanted to take a leap of faith.

"I love the torqueyness of the vehicle, having a nice, fun daily driver that's like fun to drive and it's smooth and whatnot. That was what sold it for me," said Tyler Kness-Miller.

"Still ended up being a little more expensive, but since it was comparable to a gas-powered F-150, I figured I'd give it a try. There seemed to be a lot of talk about electric vehicles, and that seems to be the direction we're going in, so I figured it'd be a good beta, test it out and see how it works," said John Tunca.

Tyler Kness-Miller mentioned how his EV car hasn't impacted his day-to-day all that much.

"Instead of going to the gas station every couple of weeks, I just go in at night, go into my garage, and then just plug it in. So it's honestly no different in my day-to-day, you know, driving a gas vehicle versus this new vehicle here," Kness-Miller.

The biggest question John Tunca had was how his EV Pickup would pull his small 5,000-pound trailer. He was surprised by the result.

"It's a lot less stressful than when I pulled it with my Chevy Tahoe. My Chevy Tahoe would sometimes overheat. Going up a pass might have to. I feel like I was constantly monitoring the transmission temperature or oil temperature. It was a little stressful driving it, but with the truck, the V pulls it like there's nothing," Tunca said.

An AAA survey showed 91% of owners of Electric Vehicles held concerns about their purchases.

Among the top concerns was the range of the vehicles. Carstensen said, that while that is a concern many more charging stations are becoming accessible.

"However, more people are wondering, you know, how can I get a charge? Well, most generally, the charging stations are becoming more and more plentiful. And so that worry of can I get this thing to a next stop? Yeah, absolutely you can," Carstensen said.

Many people end up charging their vehicles at home, causing them to have concerns about the home electric bill. Tunca and Kness-Miller said it was a reasonable trade-off for them.

"It'll be a part of your power bill, but it's not too much. So, it's definitely going to be bigger. But power is cheap compared to something like the East Coast," Kness-Miller said.

"My electric bill only went up 20 to 40 bucks as opposed to $200 in gas. I paid for my Tahoe for a month, so it a cheaper on the wallet," Tunca said.

Other concerns were the high cost of battery replacements, and running out of charge when driving.