Residents test drive popular battery-powered cars at Salinas summit

A first for Salinas: an electric vehicle summit. On Monday night, people got to learn about and test drive some of the most popular battery-powered cars.

California is already one of the top clean tech markets in the country, and Salinas wants to join the governor’s pledge to put 1.5 million electric cars on the road by 2025.

General Motors introduced one of the first modern-day electric cars, the EV-1 fleet, in 1997 and Sharon Sarris saw the cars come and go.

“I was there during the days when we introduced EV-1, so my interest in electric vehicle started in the 90s,” Sarris said.

Ten years later, under political and economic pressure, GM recalled and destroyed the fleet.

But today , electric cars are here to stay. Sarris says they are getting better and also cheaper.

“For one thing, prices of electric vehicles continue to come down. And with state, local and federal rebates, and financial incentives, you can take a $35,000 car like the new Chevrolet Bolt that is coming out, down to about $25,000,” Sarris said.

Others are not only surprised by the prices.

“I also found the BMW I-3 that was just here has a lot of carbon fiber and some other recycled materials and has a great range, and it’s not very expensive and brand new. So I was very impressed by the offerings here,” said Seaside resident Jared Wiegand.

But to abandon gasoline will take some convincing.

“The biggest reluctance is what we call electron anxiety, so when you are driving and you see your gas gauge on low, there’s usually a lot of opportunity to get petroleum-based fuel. And when you are in an electric vehicle, you really have to do a lot more planning,” said Richard Stedman, with the Monterey Bay Air Resources District.

The district is doing its part to easy drivers’ anxiety.

“We are going to be spending over $1 million to fund the placement of charges in the tri-county region,” Stedman said.

The district is also offering up to $2,500 for those buying or leasing electric cars on top of state and federal incentives.