A car salesperson told me not to buy a car

My spouse and I had been considering getting an electric vehicle for a few years. “Our next car” we’d say. Early in 2023 we got a bit more serious about the purchase. We read reviews of different makes and models, calculated cost versus savings, and assessed overall environmental impact. During this time of research, I needed to take our gas guzzler in for servicing. While I was at the dealership, I noticed that one of the EVs we were considering was on the lot. I went over to take a look. Within seconds I was approached by a salesperson, and he asked if I'd like to take it for a test drive. I declined, since I had a few engagements to attend to on foot while I was waiting for my car to be serviced.

Adept at continuing a conversation, the salesperson sincerely asked, "Why do you want an electric car?" I replied with the feel-good rhetoric of a conscious consumer, hitting all the right notes: "lower emissions, blah blah, reduce dependency on fossil fuel, blah blah, fight climate change." His response left me stunned. With a kind and warm demeanor, he simply said, "Then don't buy a car." A CAR SALESPERSON. TOLD ME. NOT TO BUY A CAR. Yet his point so succinctly highlighted the pitfalls of expecting to buy ourselves out of climate disaster. Have you noticed the explosion of products now labeled as “green” or “eco-friendly”? Despite impending doom, companies are still focused on turning profits. The big boom of "greenwashing" is designed to make us feel good about continuing our spending and consumption habits, because if we're buying things that are "good for the planet" we get to join the ranks of the climate change army.

Every purchase we make, every product and every service, has a carbon footprint, and as a result, impacts the environment. Even the organic food on our tables has a carbon footprint. The farm equipment used in the fields was most certainly gas powered, as were the trucks that brought it to market. The carbon footprint for electric vehicles is significant. Notably, the process for harvesting the rare metals used in lithium-ion batteries is horrible for the environment, extremely water intensive, and reliant on fossil fuels.

So, did we end up buying an EV? Yes. We settled on a used 2019 BMW i3 that still had plenty of life left to offset its carbon footprint (typically achieved after ~5 years), and its carbon steel frame was manufactured locally at a carbon-neutral factory. It can also be charged with a standard 110v outlet, so we didn't need to invest in a home-charging setup. It was a complicated decision, and at least for now, we feel like it was the right one.