Articles and letters about electric vehicles abound in these pages lately. One way or another, everyone has an opinion. Recent contributions to the debate haven’t addressed what it’s like to actually own and drive an electric vehicle, I’ve noticed, much less why. Let’s start with my pickup truck.

I have a wonderful 2011 4WD pickup truck with premium trim in good condition, used as my daily vehicle until 2020. It’s in good shape, without too many dents and very little rust. But at 130,000, the mileage was getting up there. I only need a pickup truck to go to the dump, haul a camper, haul a boat and truck stuff back from the home center. The price of a new truck in similar trim was $50,000-plus. I decided that something small and inexpensive for all my driving needs could extend the life of that wicked expensive vehicle until the rust gods call it to heaven.

I looked at all the small hatchbacks on the market, including the electric ones. An all-electric vehicle appealed to my geek genes; I am a retired electrical engineer. Climate change is an issue, and reducing my carbon footprint benefits society. My wife and I took a test drive, and we bought an all-electric hatchback. Was it expensive? Not really. The deal was $28,434 after $12,375 in state and federal rebates. We leased it for three years, then bought it off the lease.

Driving an all-electric car is much the same as any car, with a few differences. First, it is very quiet. It doesn’t have a transmission like a gas car. There is only one gear, and the engine can turn backwards for reverse. Acceleration is smooth and immediate. And I really mean immediate. These electric motors have maximum power at 0 mph. It’s just how they work. The hatchback is no hot rod, but it can beat most passenger cars off the line at a stop light.

I took to driving it right away. My wife, a more cautious driver, took her time learning its ways and shortly decided she liked driving it. She still prefers her well-appointed SUV to my spartan hatchback. It doesn’t have butt warmers, a heated steering wheel, radar cruise or the spacious comfort of her car.

Range anxiety? No, not really a factor. This model has a nominal 230-mile range. It gets 260 miles in the summer and 200 miles in the deep cold of winter. I keep an eye on the range remaining just like in a gas car. Once it goes below a certain level, I plug it in. There are fast chargers around. But they are expensive and not good for the battery if used on a regular basis, and I just don’t need to use one. Charging at home works just fine.

How far do I drive my electric car? My average daily driving is about 30 miles. Aside from very local driving, there are trips to Portland, Rockland, Bowdoinham and Oxford. All are in easy range. I could round trip Brunswick to Portland twice on a full charge and have 20% remaining. We take my wife’s gas-powered SUV for all our long trips.

We have an AC charger at home that delivers 10% of the battery capacity in an hour. The car came with a charger that I plug into a regular 20 amp outlet that charges 2% per hour. Most of the time, that one works just fine. When the house is busy in the summer, I tend to plug it in whenever the battery is below 80%. Otherwise, we charge up if it’s below 40%-50%. How often? Every three to five days, depending. Charging is no big deal.

What does it cost to operate? Not much. CMP charges $0.26 a kilowatt hour, and the hatchback can go 3.6 miles on that. A 50-mile round trip to Portland costs about $3.60. CMP promised to reduce their rates starting in January.

Minimal maintenance costs are another big plus. In 30,000 miles, the sum total is: rotate the tires three times, change the brake fluid and replace the tires. The brake pads still have three-eights of an inch on them. I pondered why no brake job. Electric cars use regenerative braking. The brakes don’t have as much work to do. Because of that, an EV gets better energy economy driving locally than on the highway. The opposite of a gas car. I’m not sure how long the brakes will last. Maybe 80,000 miles?

I love my electric car. It’s fun to drive and very easy on the pocketbook. And I’m helping the environment by cutting way back on my carbon footprint. And after three years, I’m happy to report that my truck is alive and well – with only an additional 5,000 miles on it.