In Los Angeles County, and particularly on the ocean side of the I-405 freeway, eco-awareness is the highest virtue. The Tesla Model S is the halo car, and most cabs are Priuses. That’s 15 more chargers than the whole 49.5-million-acre state of Nebraska can claim.
There isn’t any place in North America more eager or ready for the all-electric BMW i3 and Mercedes-Benz B-class Electric Drive than trendy, liberal, and prosperous West L.A. But, as electric cars with less than 100 miles of range, the i3 and the B are constrained by a tight support system. The public chargers in populated areas are often in facilities where the parking is expensive.
C/D paid only $1.16 per car in electricity to charge the BMW and Mercedes at a port in Century City, but the building dinged us another $35 each for parking.
Meanwhile, at a charger in Oxnard, a coastal city about 50 miles north, the parking was free during the three-hour recharge, but the only place to hang out was a Subway/Shell station across the street. And chargers are often unmarked or squirreled away in, for instance, the valet-parking garage at the Universal City Hilton.
Familiarity with the fledgling charging eco-system makes living with these cars more straightforward. But their use demands careful planning in a way the 200-mile-plus-range Tesla doesn’t. The easygoing freedom offered by gasoline-powered cars is a far-off dream with these things.
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