The Sacramento International Auto Show is happening this weekend at the Cal Expo in Sacramento.
This year, they're promoting electric vehicles, even inviting people in to take them for a spin.
"It's quieter for one thing as you probably noticed, it's very smooth because there's no transmission so the acceleration is just very smooth and very instantaneous," Kathy Applebaum, a member of Sac EV said.
Electric cars… quieter, eco-friendly and powerful.
"We're looking for something a little more electric, maybe 100 percent like the Tesla and getting away from gas," Gary Lynn, a Lincoln resident said.
Rae-Vinnette and her husband Gary are on the market for their first electric car.
"I'm looking at the math of it, we're looking at the rebates, we're looking at the gas savings, as well as repair savings," Lynn said.
They took the Tesla out for a spin in the Sacramento Municipal Utility District's "Ride and Drive" event.
"The electric motor has more torque on it from the get-go from 0 rpm up to whatever," he said.
"Every morning you wake up with a full tank as it were because you plug in and you're ready to go," Applebaum said.
SMUD is encouraging more people to think about switching to electric vehicles in hopes of reducing our carbon footprint.
"There's a lot of vehicles causing a lot of pollution out there so electric vehicles are about 70 percent cleaner on average than a conventional gas engine," John Gringrod, Program Manager for SMUD's Residential Drive Electric Program said.
They tell us Sacramento is well on its way to leading this initiative with about 8,000 electric vehicles already on the road in this area and that number is growing by 30 percent every year.
But we wanted to know if these cars will actually save you more money in the long run…
"They do and part of that is because of maintenance, an all electric vehicle for instance doesn't have a radiator, doesn't have oil changes, the brakes last a lot longer because some of the technology that's built into them," Gringrod said.
Not to mention, never having to fill up with gas again.
So let's talk incentives.
If you buy an electric vehicle, SMUD says you'll get back:
- Up to $7500 in a federal tax credit.
- Up to $2500 in California state rebates.
- $599 from SMUD through their charge free for two years program.
Adding up to a total of $10,599.
"When you're looking at a vehicle that's $45,000, $10,000 off of that makes it $35,000- which makes it comparable to gas but you don't have to buy gas," Lynn said.
With more charging stations popping up around the city thanks to organizations like this local advocacy group volunteering at SMUD's event called Sac EV.
"Test drive one and do it," Applebaum said.
