I Tried Driving an Electric Car in New York City for Two Weeks
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This is what happened
In a book I just published called The Climate Diet one of the suggestions I make to reduce your carbon footprint is “If you have to drive, drive electric.” I wrote it because that seemed to be the consensus of all the different environmental organizations I consulted when I sat down to write the book.
But here’s the thing. I live in New York. And I had never in my life actually driven an electric car. I had serious doubts. Can the average street parking schlub (present company included) really figure out a way to negotiate charging and maintaining a car that could go dead in its tracks while you’re behind the wheel? I wondered.
Last month I finally found out. Thanks to the automaker Nissan I was able to try a fully electric LEAF SL on the streets of Manhattan. It was the most enjoyable adventure I’ve had since the pandemic. My story about the experience is now up on CURBED. Have a look. Circle back and leave your comments here. As you’ll see from the story it’s not cut and dry and there are many issues that came up about the very nature of owning a car in a the City in a time of climate emergency. Let’s discuss.
More discussion of contemporary environmental dilemmas in The Climate Diet
