When the time came for Carol Katz to turn over her car to her teenage son and get a new one for herself, her husband pushed for an electric vehicle, the Chevrolet Volt.
"It's just that I wanted to become green," Jeff Katz said. The owner of a Kona Ice franchise - a mobile Hawaiian shaved ice truck that can be rented for events - added, "I'm tired of supporting all these oil companies."
His wife, an executive assistant at Warner Bros., was not immediately sold on the idea of a car that could be plugged into an outlet in the garage of their Santa Clarita home as though it were just another appliance.
"I didn't really understand the electric car thing until he took me there, he sat me in it, and explained it to me," Carol said. "Jeff was just so gung-ho about it, and now I feel like it's been the best decision."
With gas topping $4 a gallon, the Katzes are among a growing group of motorists opting for the newest wave of electric vehicles.
Both the Volt and Nissan Leaf were released late last year. With sticker prices of about $41,000 and $33,000, respectively - not counting rebates - both are far less expensive than the first mass-market electric vehicle released in the U.S. a couple of years ago, the $101,000 Tesla Roadster.
President Barack Obama has set a goal of having
a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015, and thousands of public chargers are slated for installation nationwide in the months ahead. Already, there are public chargers in certain local car dealerships, malls, hotels and government buildings.But getting an electric car requires plenty of work and thought. First, buyers have to consider the distance they drive every day - and how they drive, because frequent acceleration, traveling uphill and using the air conditioning can drain a battery more quickly.
Also, they have to check whether their garage's circuitry can handle the extra power, and what charging systems are available outside the home.
The Volt, a sedan, is known as a "plug-in hybrid." It is not a purely electric vehicle like the compact hatchback Leaf, which can go up to 100 miles on a single charge and has no tailpipe.
According to Chevy, the Volt can run solely on electricity for only about 35-40 miles before turning on a gasoline engine to power up the motor, for an extended range of up to 375 miles.
Jeff said he chose the Volt over the Leaf to avoid "range anxiety."
Since Carol is able to charge the car both at home and at work, she has not needed to gas up in weeks. Despite that, the increase in the family's power bill has been minuscule.
"This is the best decision I've ever made in buying a car because it only costs me $1.35 a day to operate it," Jeff said.
All electric cars can be plugged into any 120-volt outlet, but the couple decided to get a 240-volt charger because it cut their charging time in half. Also, the Department of Energy offers free chargers to residents in certain ZIP codes who are willing to sign up for a nationwide charger data collection program.
Jeff said his charger would otherwise have cost about $3,000, plus $1,500 for installation.
Acquiring the charger took only two to three weeks, and included having Southern California Edison send an inspector to check whether the Katzes' circuitry could handle the extra power.
The power company gave Jeff the option of putting the car on a separate meter so that during off-peak hours, it can be charged at the constant rate of 11 cents per kWh, as opposed to between 10 cents and 16 cents per kWh under the "whole house time-of-use rate."
Jeff declined because it would have required hiring a qualified electrician and opening up part of the wall in his garage at a cost of thousands of dollars.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power also offers discounted rates for customers willing to have a second meter installed: an average of about 9.5 cents per kWh. Those who reject that option will typically be charged between $10.8 cents and 12.7 cents per kWh instead.
DWP's power system engineering director, Marvin Moon, said the department wants to encourage the use of electric vehicles and is offering expedited inspections and instant permits for chargers.
"A purely electric vehicle emits up to 75 percent less emissions - greenhouse gases - than a conventional gasoline car," he said. "Here is an opportunity for customers to be very efficient in how they use energy."
Moon added that charging electric vehicles during off-peak hours eases the strain on the power grid and maximizes the use of renewable wind energy, which is abundant at night.
For Emmy award-winning actor Hector Elizondo, the environmental benefit was among the reasons he was drawn to the Volt.
"I am not polluting and that, to me, is very important," the San Fernando Valley resident said. "It also makes me very proud because it's a Chevy. It's an American car that's made as well as any car in the world."
Mitch Katz - no relation to Jeff - got his Volt for slightly different reasons.
"I'm a capitalist first and green second," said the owner of a Solar Universe franchise in Westlake Village. "I was driven more by the monetary savings which solar power and electric cars provide these days, and I'm not compromising luxury with this car."
About 20,000 people paid the $99 needed to reserve a Leaf, but only a fraction of them has actually received the car. The wait for delivery can last several months but Tim Gallagher, with Nissan North America Corporate Communications, explained: "It's all-new technology. You have to be careful about the quality of the building of the new technology and the battery and, in addition, you have to make sure there's the charging infrastructure in the community to support customers."
Gallagher also sought to allay concerns about range anxiety, saying about 90 percent of the U.S. population drives 40 miles or less per day.
"The Leaf is not a long-range car..., but it is a great product for driving either around the Valley or over in the West L.A., Hollywood area, and back," he said.
The Leaf has a sticker price of about $32,000, but is eligible not only for the $7,500 federal tax credit but a $5,000 state tax rebate as well. Also, it will allowed in car-pool lanes starting next year.
Jeff Katz said his only issue with the Volt was how expensive it was.
A basic car is worth about $41,000 but additional features could boost the price to about $50,000. Even with a federal tax credit of up to $7,500, he said, "That's still a lot."
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