It has to be obvious to all with any common sense that climate change is REAL.

Countries with arid lands are flooding, once fertile farms are becoming dust bowls and U.S. insurance companies, once offering home owner policies, are pulling out of states hit with major forest fires and flooding storms.

Summers are becoming hotter in the U.S., tornadoes, hurricanes and the results are blasted over the news on a daily basis.

Over a decade ago, I decided to change my life a bit. I dove into recycling, decided to wean myself off fossil fuels and shored up the house with more than adequate insulation, windows and doors.

Initially, I went with hybrid vehicles until I felt assured that all-electric vehicle mobility was practical. On average most drivers travel 50+ miles or less per day. I plan travel carefully, monitored distances and found that in my case it was better that I anticipated. On longer trips I planned ahead and found which destinations had electric vehicle chargers. 

Last week we purchased a new, all electric vehicle from VanBortel Chevrolet With a $7500 tax rebate and a $2000 state incentive, it brought the car down to the range of the fossil fuel similar model.

Several years ago we went with solar panels on our roof. Yes, it was at first scary, but I went through all the figures and with tax incentives and state grant monies it made financial sense. This took into account that we have two fully electric vehicles and they draw on our electric service.

Remember, we run a business out of the house 24/7, a hot tub, sauna and heated pool and I am an avid TV nut.

Last year we installed a heat pump water heater and in the Spring anticipate putting in a whole house heat pump system. My idea is to eliminate natural gas use by the Holdrakers in the future.

A far as recycling goes, I realize everything we put into the system is not totally recycled. Too much still ends up in landfills. Newspaper, cardboard, metals are in demand, but that overwhelming plastic crap is a definite downside.

To somewhat thwart plastics I have eliminated plastic detergent bottles with researched laundry sheets. Whenever possible,  cleaning supplies, personal hygiene products I go for the best choice avoiding plastic.

There are those stalwarts who will probably fight until death to keep fossil fuel engines roaring. It takes time for change, especially for something embedded into society for generations.

Yes, there are problems with electric battery concepts, but science and industry are working on solutions. 

According to statistics from Sensiblemotive by Robert Munoz," Just 25 years ago, you might have thought an electric car was a glorified go-kart. Can battery power really compete with gasoline to get us going?

But we’ve seen a sea-change in electric vehicles – and now they have the range and power to compete with traditional, fossil-fuel burning cars.

As climate change has us watching our carbon footprints, electric vehicles are a chance to tread softly. And the rise of companies like Tesla, combined with powerful tax incentives, has caused the electric car industry to boom.

But as with any new technology, there’s resistance and a whole lot of misinformation. The stats don’t lie: electric car statistics reveal the truth about the meteoric rise of electric vehicles.

If you’re charged up for electric car statistics, here are the key takeaways at a glance:

• Over 2 million electric vehicles have been sold in the United States.

• But electric cars still make up just 1% of cars on our roads.

• 46% of Americans remain unlikely to consider an electric car for their next vehicle.

• But the market for electric vehicles still doubled in 2021.

• Tesla’s market share for electric vehicles is 66.3%

• On average, an electric vehicle costs $10,108 more than a standard vehicle.

• But running an EV for 200,000 miles could save you $4,380 compared to a gasoline-powered car.

In America alone, 322,000 electric vehicles were sold in 2020.

That’s almost 900 every day.

Electric vehicle sales are growing faster than any other vehicle market: in 2021, the market for new vehicles grew 36%, but the market for electric vehicles doubled!

Over 2 million electric vehicles have been sold in the US to date.

The World Economic Forum reports that Europe is far ahead of the U.S. in accepting the electric vehicle generation.

Electric vehicle sales are growing faster than any other vehicle market: in 2021, the market for new vehicles grew 36%, but the market for electric vehicles doubled!

Norway, Iceland and Sweden are leading the charge, with plug-in electric vehicles accounting for 74.8%, 45% and 32.2% respectively in 2020.

We all have a long way to go, but we must take climate change seriously. Fossil fuels, plastic pollution must go.

We are really running out of time.