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SOUTH JORDAN — Most people don't smile when they drive past a gas station. But South Jordan resident Nichole Lorrigan-Sorensen does.
That is since she bought an electric car, a 2012 Nissan Leaf, last June.
"I was so tired of spending money on gas with all our vehicles," Lorrigan-Sorensen said. She said her family spent more than $6,000 on gas in 2022.
Lorrigan-Sorensen isn't the only Utahn who has recently made the switch to electric. Data from the Utah State Tax Commission reveals that 25,532 electric cars are registered in Utah as of February. This is up more than 200% from 2020, when there were 8,041 electric vehicles in the state.
Gas prices are a major factor when it comes to the rise in electric vehicle purchases, said Chip Browne, owner of the used car dealership Electric Vehicle Exchange in Lindon.
Utah has also become more accommodating for electric vehicles. Salt Lake City made the top 20 list for best metro areas for electric cars in a study by StorageCafe, based on factors that included the number of electric vehicles, availability of public chargers and electricity prices.
Lorrigan-Sorensen said she has "hardly noticed" a difference in her energy bill since buying her Nissan.
Travis Sievers is another South Jordan resident and owner of two electric vehicles, a 2019 Hyundai Kona Electric and a 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5. He said Rocky Mountain Power's electric vehicle incentives have been instrumental in keeping down his electricity costs.
Rocky Mountain Power offers an electric vehicle pricing plan for Utahns, including "off-peak" hours when homeowners can pay less to power their vehicles.
"My electric bill didn't go up even though we consume double the electricity with the electric cars," Sievers said. "Certain adjustments like that have made it very cost-effective."
There are also environmental perks. Nonprofit organization Leaders for Clean Air provides free electric car chargers to Utah businesses and families with the mission of "cleaning the Wasatch air," according to its website.
When electric vehicle owners can't conveniently charge their cars overnight, there are 2,565 charging stations in Utah, as of this article's publication date. The highest number of stations in a single Utah city, 989, is in Salt Lake City.
Sievers said he only uses charging stations when he goes on road trips. This normally isn't an issue, other than the inconvenience of waiting 20-30 minutes for his car to charge. But there was a close call once.
On a trip to Moab, Sievers saw on the Electrify America website that there was a charger in Green River. But when he got to the location, there was no charger.
"We ended up having to scramble, and we made it to our destination with like 4% battery left," Sievers said.
The Inflation Reduction Act
Besides gas, Browne said other likely contributors to the rise in electric vehicles include the increased availability and variety of electric car models, improved technology performance and the Inflation Reduction Act's $7,500 tax credit.
Sievers received this tax credit for his Kona, which he bought in May 2020. His Ioniq 5, which he bought in January, did not qualify for credit.
After April 18, an update to the Inflation Reduction Act will mean that cars will only qualify for the tax credit if their batteries and parts come from North America. Sievers said he thinks this change may have a negative impact on the electric vehicle trend.
"I understand the drive to try to bring manufacturers onto U.S. soil," Sievers said. "I don't know if they've given enough time for manufacturers to really meet those requirements, which means less Americans are going to be able to take advantage of those credits."
Correction: An earlier version said Lorrigan-Sorensen's family spent $10,000 on gas in 2022 instead of $6,000.
