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I admit that I am the person who bought $60 fluorescent and LED light bulbs when each technology was new. I jumped on the new technology. Why not? It was easy to screw in a new light bulb! But an electric vehicle, that made me pause. It is a much more significant financial commitment than a light bulb.

I also needed to feel secure in the technology and that it had a good lifespan. I had range anxiety, what if we go camping and the battery goes dead? Horrors! Let me tell you the story about how we got to the point of buying a Ford F-150 Lightning pickup truck in October.

We got into horses 30 years ago and spent this summer winding out of our horse ownership hobby. The last big item to go was our ginormous F-350 diesel horse-hauling monster. I wanted to get down to two cars, but my husband thought we still needed a truck. What to do, what to do... I had a flash of insight one day when out walking the dogs: 鈥淲hy don鈥檛 we trade in our big truck for an EV truck?鈥� My husband was delighted by the idea, so we both started doing research.

I attended the Beltrami Electric EV Car Show at the beginning of October and chewed the ear off of a representative from who has driven many miles on his Ford F-150 EV for the last 18 months. That conversation, combined with our research, gave us confidence that we were ready to make the move.

Now, here is the fun part. The truck we were hoping to buy at the dealership had sold, but we got to review it thoroughly. The salesperson insisted we drive an EV. So we got into the Ford Mach-e, which is the electric version of the Ford Mustang. We learned about one-pedal driving as we wheeled around town. It was exciting! We felt like kids with a new toy.

But it soon dawned on me that, in the end, once the newness of electric versus gas or diesel wears off, it is transportation. Simple, human, stuff moving, transportation. I know that sounds silly, but it is much less of a risk once you realize the change is small 鈥� plug-in versus pump-in the fuel. You didn鈥檛 forget how to drive or change a tire just because you are in an EV.

The dealership we used gave us a good trade-in for our used truck; they piled on price reductions, and the truck qualified for the full $7,500 federal tax rebate and 0% financing. To sweeten the deal, the federal tax rebate goes directly to the dealer, making it easy for the buyer. I felt like we had won the car lottery! Big purchases usually make us queasy, but this one felt just right.

Someday, I will let you know if the transition will be as easy and money-saving as we think it will be. For now, we are excited to become EV owners and use this opportunity to keep our minds working by learning and adapting to something new.