According to Pew Research, roughly 40% of Americans say they are likely to “seriously consider” an electric vehicle (EV) the next time they purchase a car. EVs are becoming more popular and could possibly overtake internal combustion engine vehicles in the near future. The subject of EVs has not escaped the gravity pull of polarization: the same survey showed that the opinion of electric vehicles skews along the lines of political affiliation, age, and location (with urban residents favoring EVs more than suburban or rural residents).

We noticed a spike in EV ownership among QCAN members at a recent meeting, and decided to ask our EV owners a little about their experience owning and using their EVs.

Congrats on getting an EV! What did you get?
Joe: Subaru Solterra
Julie: Nissan Leaf
Mike and Cyndy: Mitsubishi Outlander
Sarah: Nissan Leaf

What made now the right time to get an EV?
All: The price came down.

Most respondents mentioned that the combination of government rebates and price drops from the dealers brought these cars into an affordable range. This speaks volumes about the importance of state and federal governments’ ability to quicken the adoption of eco-friendly transportation.

What were your concerns before making this purchase?
Several people mentioned charging anxiety, and some felt that it was with good reason. Sarah mentioned that she was concerned about charging on trips and found that it was tricky as she feared. However Joe finds that charging has been way easier than he feared; he didn’t even know the seller would send him home with a charger that plugs into a wall outlet.

Julie had a preconceived notion that EVs were prohibitively expensive but was thrilled that her family was able to purchase the Nissan Leaf for about $21k after rebates.

We installed a mini-split heat pump in our home in 2021 — not a whole-home system, just one wall-mounted unit in the living area, because that was all we could afford at the time. (The rebates are much, much better now — you can get $10,000 back from MassSave, plus up to $2,000 in federal tax credits.) And now that we’ve used our heat pumps for a couple of winters, I decided to analyze our heating history to see what kind of carbon impact they’re having, using 10 years of real-world data from our home. 

Long story short? Simply supplementing our gas boiler with a mini-split heat pump has cut our carbon emissions by almost 4 tons a year — more than if we took our car off the road entirely.

While our heat pump is really just a supplemental heat source — we have one wall-mounted mini-split head in the main living area, not one in each bedroom and the kitchen as you’d want for a complete conversion — we used it almost exclusively last winter, only turning on our gas boiler on the very coldest single-digit days for a little boost. (It’s been glorious in the summer, too, quietly replacing three noisy, inefficient window air conditioners.) 

I recently pulled our usage history from National Grid, just out of curiosity. It goes back 10 years, to when we had oil heat, providing a good baseline for our average winter gas usage minus heating; before we converted our boiler from oil to gas, we used about 24 therms a month in winter for hot water and cooking. 

Quarry Hills Associates (QHA), the private developer of the Granite Links Golf Course, currently has a 50-year lease with the City of Quincy for 540 acres of city property.

With more than 20 years remaining, important recreational and environmental provisions of the current lease have not been honored. Nonetheless, QHA is requesting a 99-year lease extension for investment/development purposes, which would require a Home Rule Petition that is typically granted only for non-profits or air rights/utilities.

Concerned with the lack of serious fiscal transparency, a closed-door process that has not sufficiently engaged affected residents, and recreational and environmental issues, a group of citizen activists, environmentalists, and attorneys formed the Quarry Hills Citizen Advocates and has amassed a compelling case against the proposed lease extension. This land is zoned as the largest piece of open space in Quincy and many feel it should be available to all residents for sports events, walking, reasonably priced golf, etc. There are also concerns about traffic issues, access to and maintenance of the Ricciuti Drive ballfields, and the lack of appropriate public trail access to the Blue Hills Reservation that was required in the original lease.

Time is of the essence, as mayoral and city council elections take place November 7 and could directly affect the outcome of this once-in-a-lifetime home rule vote. For some background, an interview with attorney members of the group is available here.

– Mike Cotter and Cyndy Roche-Cotter, QCAN members

image: Boston skyline at sunset from Granite Links, by Eric Moreno (CC BY 2.0 DEED license, color adjusted)

It’s election season in Quincy! This is a big year with a contested mayor’s race.

At QCAN we want to know where our candidates stand on environmental issues. So on October 4th at 7 pm we will be hosting our 2023 QCAN Candidates’ Night. This year we are happy to return to a live format at United First Parish Church (President’s Church in Quincy Center) as we did before Covid.

We have confirmed participation from mayoral candidates Thomas Koch and Anne Mahoney; city councilor candidates Dave McCarthy (Ward 1), Anthony Andronico and Richard Ashe (Ward 2), James Devine and Matthew Lyons (Ward 4), and Bill Harris and Deborah Riley (Ward 6); and at-large city councilor candidates Scott Campbell, Noel DiBona, and Nina Liang.

Please help spread the word and share the Facebook event.

We look forward to seeing you there!