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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 11 N OV E M B E R 1 , 2 0 2 1 F O C U S L O G I S T I C S / T R A N S P O R TAT I O N mirroring the national trend, electric cars are making up an ever-bigger slice of Maine's car market, rising from 1.2% of new cars sold in 2020 to more than 2.4% in 2021. While expensive batteries mean a sticker price of $40,000 and up today, electric cars are more economical to maintain and run than internal com- bustion vehicles. ey're also quieter and can accelerate quickly, and have the added cachet of being good for the environment. Early adopters in Maine include E2Tech Executive Director Martin Grohman, a Tesla driver since 2007 who upgraded to a Model S during the pandemic. "You get a lot of young guys come up to you and go, 'at's my dream car,'" he says. "It kind of looks like the Batmobile, and it's as fast as the Batmobile." Adam Lee, chairman of Lee Auto Malls with 17 dealerships from Bangor to Saco, is on his third electric car, in which he commutes almost daily between Topsham and Westbrook and charges at home. Seven or eight years after getting his first EV, Lee — who advocated for federal laws that eventu- ally forced automakers to raise fuel econ- omy standards on gas engines — says, "I don't expect I'll have a gasoline-powered car again." He believes it will take a long time to convince customers to do the same given current supply shortages, including SUVs and trucks that constitute a small percentage of today's electric cars, and the fact that prices are still high for the average consumer. "Even if prices of batteries start to come down a bit, it won't be like phones or computers," he says, "but I have faith in the industry and in technology in this country. We've done remarkable things before, and hopefully we can do that again." Purchase online: cnbrown.com/gi -cards Give the Best Gi Of All this Season. C O N T I N U E D O N F O L L OW I N G PA G E » P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY It's very realistic that someday we'll be selling mostly electric or a majority of electric cars, but that time is still very far off. — Adam Lee Lee Auto Malls Adam Lee, chairman of Lee Auto Malls with 17 dealerships from Bangor to Saco, is also an EV owner.