It’s time… Yes, time for new wheels, specifically time for new wheels that emit less greenhouse gas emissions. In the past ten years, I’ve increased my motorized transportation efficiency from 40 MPG (Honda Civic hybrid), to 50 MPG (Prius), and now 119 MPG! The Prius that I shamelessly advocate as the true people’s car of the 21st century, is now near obsolete, replaced with an all-electric Chevy Bolt.

For clients, EcoMotion prepares greenhouse gas inventories and then develops climate action plans to mitigate and ultimately eliminate these emissions. To overgeneralize, cities’ emissions can be broken into three major slices: buildings, transportation, and industry. For homes, a similar, simple set of thirds applies pretty well: household energy, transportation, and all the “stuff” we consume… from food to products that enhance our lives.

In terms of my own footprint, I’m working it down and trying to keep up with my enlightened readers. Our home is efficient; our HVAC units are Energy Star. We use LEDs, our attic is super-insulated; we’ve replaced many old windows with high performance ones. We have a SolaTube for daylighting, and super-efficient washer and dryers. Last year we took a big step when we invested in 8 kW of solar. Now our home and AIRBNB are 100% powered by the sun. Sure, I have lots of next steps. I bet you do too! It’s time to xeriscape much of our yard. We’re working to reel in our consumption.

In one fell swoop in December, I took a big bite out of my emissions by upgrading my wheels. This was a big step for me. I’ve been reluctant to buy all-electric. First off, I still lament a solar-hydrogen future. Second, I scoff at the use of the term zero emission. Why? Most often, it isn’t true. Most of the EVs in America are charged by the grid. In some parts of the country, EVs are powered with nuclear. Some regions power EVs with coal. I wasn’t ready to jump on the EV bandwagon until I could be sure about my car’s source fuel. Now I am sure. In my case, it’s solar! My Bolt is powered by the sun, excess solar power generated onsite.

The Bolt is a front engine, five-door all electric subcompact hatchback developed and manufactured by Chevrolet in partnership with the LG Corporation. It’s loaded with instrumentation. A European version is sold as the “Opal Ampera-e.” The Bolt has a 200 horsepower motor and uses a nickel-rich, lithium-ion battery chemistry. It’s fast and quiet, reminding me of the slot cars of my youth. Its battery pack can hold 60 kWh. That compares to 18.4 kWh for its older sister, the Volt, and 40 kWh for the Leaf. The Ford Fusion Energy’s pack is 7.6 kWh.

I’m doing everything I can to reduce my footprint, to “walk the talk.” And for years I have wanted to buy American, but never saw anything that I deemed worthy of investment. My cars over time have been Datsun, Nissan, Volvo, Volkswagen, and Subaru, Honda…. Then the Bolt caught my attention: it’s a nice mix of high tech, affordability, with a range of 238 miles per fill-up. It’s American ingenuity at its best.