BANGOR DAILY NEWS • December 20, 2023
I’ve been driving an all-electric Volkswagen ID4 now for the last two-plus years. Driving an electric car is not a compromise, it is a true upgrade over conventional gas engine cars. The unseen but very real additional benefit of an electric car is that as I drive, the electric car produces no tailpipe emissions. But there is also a true downside to owning an electric car today in Maine. First, our cold winters reduce the ability of my electric car batteries to hold as much of a charge compared to the warmth of summer days. The other more significant issue is that Maine and a good bit of rural America is not prepared yet for charging electric cars while traveling distances beyond a normal charging range. ~ Des FitzGerald, Rockport