EV Adoption barriers

[DavidandDeborah Cohen]

For those of you who don’t know me or my history with EV’s, let me give a quick background. First off I’ve always had the smallest, most fuel efficient cars that met my needs. I rode a motorcycle to work (50+ mpg) for most of my career. Then I leased my first EV in 2016, a Fiat 500e. When the lease was up on that, I turned it in and got a 2nd gen Nissan Leaf. In 2022 I sold that (with 80,000 miles on it) to a family member and purchased a Tesla Model Y. I later sold our last ICE car, a Subaru Outback to our son and bought a used Fiat 500e for our second car. In 2023 I sold the 500e to my son and daughter in law for their 2nd car and bought a Mini Cooper electric. Last year I traded in my Tesla for a 2025 Model Y. The ride quality was always something we didn’t like on the 2022 Tesla. I also have solar on my home all electric lawn care equipment, and ride my bike places when possible.

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, which had some of the worst air quality in the world. I like fresh air. I think all people regardless of how they are registered to vote should drive electric and I think the mission of our group should be to encourage all people to do so, regardless of political preference.

The Tesla Model Y is the best selling car in the world, gas, diesel or electric. I also feel it is objectively the best all around car, all things considered, one can buy today. I think it is counterproductive to discourage people to buy the best car because you don’t like Elon Musk. I would venture to say that you probably don’t even know who the CEO of the other car companies are. The former CEO of Nissan, Carlos Ghosn, turned out to be a criminal although this didn’t effect my purchase decision.

The Tesla model Y is superior to most every other car on the market;
1: No haggling, clear pricing, no back room pressure to buy undercoating or extended warranty or forced dealer markup.
2: Constant over the air software updates, a 5 year old car has nearly all the features as a brand new car.
3. Faster than any comparably priced car, gas or electric. Same 0-60 as a Porsche 911 Carrera
4. FSD, no one is even close
5. Best range for the money
6. Best charging network by far
7. Best UI (user interface) the controls
8. Quality now on par or better than Japanese and German legacy carmakers
9. Features that are not on any other car or some are on very few cars; phone as key, dog mode, automatic start, stop, lock, and farts!!!
10. Safest car on the road
Much more, if you own one you know

Why would we discourage people from buying the best car available that is zero emissions because of intolerance over differing political opinions? Tesla has tens of thousands of employees in the US and millions have Tesla stock, whether directly or through mutual funds, why damage so many people’s livelihoods.

Let’s have kind and respectful discussions with each other. And let’s keep our group to the mission of bringing together individuals who are interested in electric vehicles and their expanded use in Ventura County.

I’m always open to friendly dialogue with anyone. Buy me a cup of coffee.


David & Deborah Cohen

[Kent Bullard]

Very well said. 

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Kent Bullard {Hastiin}

Ventura, CA 93004

(805) 218-6945

kentb...@gmail.com

[generub...@earthlink.net]

Yes, well said. 

Thank you, Gene Rubin

www.generubinaudio.com

On Feb 15, 2026, at 3:26 PM, Kent Bullard <kentb...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[cit...@sbcglobal.net]

I dunno . Let’s support a company that gives millions of dollars to someone who indiscriminately fired thousands of federal workers while he rakes in more money from the federal government through space contracts than any other contractor . DOGE ( now defunct) mysteriously didn’t look into the “ blank check” contracts with Spacex. A man who backed a president that continues to violate the constitution and deploys thousands of heavily armed officers in our city streets to kill American citizens . A man that has no compassion for ANYONE in his employ or their families. I don’t think so . This president that Elon Musk is in love with is currently taking America back 50 years in the fight for a cleaner planet . “Global warming is a hoax” according to this administration that is so proudly endorsed by the guy who made your Tesla , I would drive anything but. NO THANK YOU!  “Well said? “ I don’t think so…. Joe Spittle , Santa Paula , California

[Seth Brandes]

As someone who has owned 3 Teslas since 2015, I think the Model Y is
very practical machine to buy.  We enjoyed driving ours when we owned
one.  I support people buying and driving them and am glad to see less
ICE cars on the road. There are some great people building these cars at
Tesla.

rant on//
However, as for personal choices, my wife and I both sold our Teslas and
drive great new EVs from other brands.  I refuse to support the Tesla
brand so long as Elon is in charge of it.  Put simply in my best
NY-ese:  FUCK ELON!!!!!!!
rant off//

Cheers,
Seth

[DavidandDeborah Cohen]

My point was not to get anyone in this group to change their beliefs or opinions about Tesla or Elon Musk. My point is let’s keep our politics to ourselves in the context of this group and just be about the mission of encouraging others to drive EV’s. As for me, I love my Mini Cooper EV, but it could never replace my ICE car for much of my driving needs. 

David & Deborah Cohen 

On Feb 16, 2026, at 11:56 AM, cit...@sbcglobal.net <cit...@sbcglobal.net> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/evavc/45391014-ee71-48ac-a51c-8bcd3f51040en%40googlegroups.com.