David Hrivnak, a retired engineer from Kingsport, Tennessee, has been worried about climate change for a long time. So when he sat down to calculate the carbon emissions from his family’s home and car, he was dismayed by what he learned.

Hrivnak: “We were worse than average, I was actually part of the problem rather than part of the solution. And for us, most of that was through our vehicles – driving scouts to and from camp, running the kids to and from school, and taking family trips.”

Hrivnak was determined to change that. So now, he and his wife drive electric vehicles. They also installed solar panels that produce enough energy to power their house and cars.

These investments can be costly in the short-term. But he says they will pay off over time. EV’s are cheaper to maintain.

Hrivnak: “There’s no transmissions, there’s no oil changes, there’s no tune-ups, there’s no belts to replace.”

And charging the cars costs less than paying for gas. On a recent drive home from Mississippi …

Hrivnak: “We did that 650 miles easily in one day and our total cost to drive home was $16.20.”

So he says in the long-run, he’s saving money and reducing his carbon emissions.

Reporting credit: Sarah Kennedy/ChavoBart Digital Media.