Elicia Casey-Winter and Amos Cox were recently nominated for Clarence Climate Actions Climate Champions campaign, which shines a light on everyday people doing their bit to fight climate change.
Climate change Champions cruise
Twelve months ago, Ms Casey-Winter and Mr Cox bought an electric car after initially being a bit nervous about it.
“Electric cars haven’t really caught on yet in Tasmania, so we felt a bit like guinea pigs, but as soon as we got the car, we fell in love with it,” Ms Casey-Winter said.
It was Mr Cox’s parents who encouraged the young couple’s interest in electric vehicles.
“They’re building a house on our block and we were going to car share, but I work as a piano tuner and do a lot of driving, so that wasn’t really practical,” Ms Casey-Winter said.
“Then we looked into it and crunched the numbers and decided to buy our own.
“It was mainly the environmental factor, but once we had it, we discovered the savings as well.”
They went through the Good Car Company, a Tasmanian-owned business that bulk-buys second-hand electric cars from Japan.
“It’s the most modern car we’ve ever owned,” Ms Casey-Winter said.
“We charge it every night, and our power bill has hardly gone up.
“The Good Car Company estimated it would cost us about $1.40 a night, but we use off-peak, so it’s actually somewhere between 40 and 80 cents.”
Mr Cox said there were downsides to having an electric car. “They’ve brought out models in the last three years that have really increased the range, cars that do 300 to 500 kilometres on full charge, but we’ve got the smaller range, so we need to plan ahead,” he said. “However, I love how quiet it is — it’s smooth and modern, and it’s got a lot of power if you need it.”
Eastern Shore Sun, August 2021, page 11