I drive an electric car to make up for the first car I ever owned. It was a car driven for many years by the marines stationed in Curacao, and now it was my time. It had no badges or other markings that I remember, so I don’t know what it was. I do know it had a 5.7 Liter v8, and that was something. It being my first car, I had to learn a lot, like the fact that it most of the time, only runs on 5 or 6 cylinders and that having a few bottles of water and oil was a necessity. It used a lot of oil and not only for the engine but also the power steering; having a heavy v8 right above the wheels and no power steering is no fun, I can tell you.

One adventure I still remember was when I ran out of fuel in the middle of nowhere. It was still in the time when we had no mobile phones, so I looked around for a vessel and picked up a 2L cola bottle, and started walking. After a while, I reached a bus stop, waited for the bus, and got out at the first petrol station I saw. I filled the cola bottle and reversed the trip back to the car, which I reached a few hours later. I filled it up with the 2l of gasoline I had and started driving… for, let’s say, 6 kilometers. That was something I hadn’t realized before; the car used 3 liters of fuel for every kilometer it drove, and for the Americans, that is seven mpg. That is and was a ridiculous amount, and my punishment was that I had to do the whole ritual of walking and taking a bus again, but this time I bought a jerrycan.

After this car had finally done enough in its life, I bought a more sensible car for the remainder of my stay. Back in the Netherlands, I never owned a car, there is enough public transportation, and I also had motorcycles; they were not as friendly for the environment, but at least I was more fuel efficient.

I now drive an electric car for almost six years, not only to make up but also because it drives so much better. I still feel guilty if I drive a “normal” car, knowing so clearly that I once carried the fuel that so rapidly disappeared in the air we breathe.