Hill said he’s been following Tesla since it began its foray into electric vehicles as an investor and had thoughts for many years about buying one, but it wasn’t until he purchased the Model 3 that he caught on to some of the quirks of electric vehicles that differ from traditional gasoline cars.
“The first time I drove it, it was just creepy,” Hill said. “I thought it was broken because I couldn’t hear anything.”
Benjamin DeBardeleben, 47, of Auburn, drove his 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid to the meetup. He’s owned it for about four years, during which time his family has racked up about 33,000 miles. He said while he only gets about 33 miles per electric charge compared to 450 miles per tank of gas, his family mainly only drives the car limited distances around Auburn.
“Most of our driving is electric; I’d say we drive 10,000 miles a year — 7,500 miles electric and 2,500 miles gas,” he said. “Just the savings of fuel and oil changes and whatnot, it becomes a really nice way to enjoy the fresh air and drive around and enjoy cars.”
In the early months of the pandemic, when fewer people were traveling in their vehicles, DeBardeleben said the quietness of the roadways matched with the near silence of his hybrid Chrysler SUV allowed him to have a more relaxing drive.
As an earlier electric vehicle, the 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid may be more limited on mileage when running on electric charge, but DeBardeleben said this is where the benefit of having a hybrid vehicle comes into play if drivers seek to go on longer road trips while technology improves to allow further fully electric drives.