Jim Hartman with his EV

Jim Hartman with his EV

FAQ

Purchasing

  • Electric Vehicle Price Guide (updated often)
  • Download the 2021 Plug-in Car Guide (PDF)
    How to Evaluate, Select and Purchase or Lease a Low-Emissions Vehicle

    A 22-page booklet full of useful, money-saving information, including:

    1. Why EVs are better for the planet, particularly when charged in the Northwest
    2. How to evaluate the climate change impact of your car
    3. All locally available new green cars ranked by lowest GHG emissions
    4. A guide to rebates and tax credits
    5. Buy or lease: Your best option?
    6. New or used: You decide
  • Can I get tax credits or rebates? And more info here.
  • Key details about the City of Ashland’s new rebate, designed to help low- or moderate-income people
    1. It is $1,000, limited to the first 70 people
    2. For new or used vehicles bought at dealers for under $30,000
    3. You must be an Ashland utility customer
    4. This program began Nov. 15, 2020

    More details can be found at the City’s website.

  • What other Oregon Cities or Utilities have rebates?
  • Why should I consider going to Portland to buy?
    Because EVs represent a relatively small share of the car market to date, fewer are available locally. You may have to go out of town if you want one soon, or are looking for a particular make, model or color. Two good sites for searches are Autotrader and CarGurus. You can change the order by selecting “nearest first” for local cars, or lowest price, or for a particular make or model. Autotrader is most comprehensive as you can search all makes and models up to 500 miles, new and used. CarGurus allows only new OR used, and gives all makes and models only within 100 miles. Craigslist is also a good source.
    A highly reputable used EV specialist in the Portland area is the Platt Auto Group. Many but not all of their cars are shown on the above shopping sites, so you might want to go direct to their site to view everything.
    Note that the car shopping sites will show many vehicles available in California. However, you will pay California sales tax unless the car is shipped by the dealer directly to Oregon.
  • What if I need an All Wheel Drive (AWD) car to go up into the mountains during the winter?
    There are few choices currently and they can be expensive. For example, a 2018 Tesla Model 3 with 4 wheel drive, a 310 mile range, with 10,000 miles can be found for just over $41,000. More choices are coming though. Consider the AWD SUV 2022 Nissan Ariya which will go on sale in 2021. It has a range of 300 miles, is semi-autonomous driving, and costs $45,000. Still, this is much more than the popular AWD 2021 Subaru Forester which is gasoline powered and goes for $25,000.
  • EVs are Already at Price Parity
  • EVA Offers Low Interest EV Loans
  • Which EVs Qualify for Federal Tax Credits? (10-22-2023)
  • Nissan slashes 2022 LEAF price below $30K, now the cheapest EV available in the US
  • The Cheapest Cars to Own & Operate in the US
  • What are the advantages of buying from a Dealer?
  • Should I buy new or used?
  • Should I lease or buy?

Charging

  • What are the diferent charge plugs for?
  • How to Choose a Home EV Charger
  • What do I need to charge in my garage?
    1. A level 2 home charger is basically your clothes dryer outlet. If you happen to have a dryer in your garage you already have a level 2 charger. If you have a dryer electrical outlet within range of your car’s charging cable you can get the NeoCharge Smart Splitter and plug this box into your dryer outlet. Then plug your clothes dryer into one side of the box and your car charger into the other – it has 2 outlets. If you are charging the car and you start your dryer, the box will divert the power to the dryer only. When the dryer is finished the box will divert the power back to your car charging cable. The box switches power back and forth with the dryer having priority. This is good if your house electrical service is already at max capacity. The box would only let the car or the dryer have power, never both. (from $439.00, works with all Tesla vehicles, plug and play Smart Splitter (high-power, max. 40 amp, 9.6kWh).
    2. If you want to run a separate 220V 30amp outlet to your garage specifically for car charging the price will vary dramatically depending on a few things. How far away is your breaker box from where you want to put the car charging outlet? Do you have room in your breaker box for a 2-pole breaker? Is your house already close to a max load of the electrical service it has (100, 200 or 400 amps)? Do you want to run the wires in the wall?
      The price can vary dramatically. The most expensive is if the electrical service to your house is already at max capacity. You would need to replace your breaker box, possibly run a heavier cable to your house from the transformer, etc. This could cost thousands, and probably only necessary if you have a 50 plus year old house. If you have a 200-amp service at your house, you are probably OK. (Look at the big top center breaker of your home’s breaker box and the number on that big breaker shows how much total power you have. Hopefully it says 200.) The cheapest install would be if your circuit breaker panel is in or near the garage so your EV charging outlet would be just a few feet from the breaker box. Parts for this would be $10 for a 2 pole (220V) breaker, $25 for 10 gauge wire, $25 for plug and box, and maybe some conduit. A do-it-yourself project should be less than $100. I work with a retired electrician and he would probably charge about $150 for a next to the breaker box install. If you called a big electrical house and they sent one of their guys it would probably be $500 for a similar install. Note that any changes to electrical systems require city inspection.
    3. The Tesla charging cable that comes with your car can be plugged into virtually any outlet. The Tesla webpage sells a large variety of plugs that can be snapped onto the end of your charging cable, such as this one. Each plug is about $45.
    4. You can buy travel kits that have virtually every plug that you might run into while traveling. Evannex.com is a good resource for these items, at $480.
  • What if I don’t have a garage?
  • What if I can’t charge at home?
    The City of Ashland has a number of level 2 free charging stations that typically give you 20 miles per hour of charging. There are 10 in the parking lot next to Pony Expresso in Ashland (Map to 175 Lithia Way).

…And More