Quote of the Day: “Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower.” – Albert Camus
Photo: by GWC
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
More Americans are getting involved in the political process, according to this exciting report.
Last month for National Voter Registration Day, over 800,000 people either updated their voter registration or registered to vote for the very first time.
The holiday is orchestrated by Nonprofit VOTE in collaboration with over 4,000 other organizations and major platforms, such as Google, Twitter, and Facebook.
Prior to the event on September 25th, the organizers for the holiday say that they had initially set a goal for at least 300,000 registrations – and they were blown away by the campaign’s overwhelming success.
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“Some us were saying, ‘Hey, maybe we’ll hit 400 or 500,000,” Brian Miller, executive director of Nonprofit VOTE, told TIME. “No one that I know of thought we would surpass 800,000 voter registrations. That surprised all of us. But I think it’s a sign of the interest in the midterms and the interest in having this unified day of action.”
This year’s Registration Day breaks the previous record that was set in 2016 with 771,321 voter registrations. In 2014, there were only 154,500 registrations. The holiday was originally created in 2012.
Regardless of the outcome for the midterm elections, the organizers of the holiday are thrilled that so many Americans are getting involved in the electoral process.
Vote For Positivity: Share The Good News With Your Friends – Photo by Renee Silverman, CC
An exciting new gene therapy trial has restored full or partial vision to blind patients who were robbed of their sight because of a genetic condition.
The study, which was launched at the University of Oxford back in 2011, recruited 14 patients to receive an eye injection of the virus containing the missing gene that caused the blindness.
By the end of the study, there was a significant gain in vision across the group of patients as a whole.
Furthermore, of the 12 patients who received the treatment without any complications, 100% either gained or maintained vision in their treated eyes, which was sustained for up to 5 years at the last follow-up. During this time, only 25% of the untreated eyes – which acted as a control group – maintained vision.
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This was the world’s first gene therapy trial for treating the genetic condition, and the treatment was generally well-tolerated with no significant safety concerns.
“The early results of vision improvement … have been sustained for as long as we have been following up [with] these patients – and in several, the gene therapy injection was over 5 years ago,” said Professor Robert MacLaren, the ophthalmologist who led the trial.
“The trial has made a big difference to their lives,” he added.
The patients all suffered from a condition called choroideremia, also known as ‘retinitis pigmentosa’. The disease has reportedly become the most common cause of untreatable blindness in young people.
WATCH: Boy Thought to Be Nonverbal Can Speak After Dentist Discovers He is Simply ‘Tongue-Tied’
Last month, the European Medicines Agency formally approved its first gene therapy treatment for a different eye disease. Experts predict that other currently incurable diseases are likely to follow and will have approved gene therapy treatments in future years.
The success of the Oxford study has since led to a much larger international gene therapy trial involving over 100 patients across nine countries in the EU and in North America. If successful, the follow-on trial could result in the gene therapy treatment being formally approved by the relevant regulatory bodies worldwide.
The results of the trial were published in Nature Medicine earlier this week.
Cure Your Friends Of Negativity By Sharing The Good News To Social Media – Photo by Professor Robert MacLaren
Though Elon Musk has been in and out of several clouds of social media controversy, the CEO has made good on his promise to help with the water crisis in Flint.
Earlier this summer, several Twitter users wrote messages to the Tesla CEO urging him to use his wealth and influence to address the plumbing issues in the Michigan city.
In mid-July, Musk announced that he and his foundation would be contacting the mayor of Flint to help with the city’s recovery.
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“Please consider this a commitment that I will fund fixing the water in any house in Flint that has water contamination above FDA levels. No kidding,” he wrote.
As it turns out, Musk kept his word. The businessman made a $480,350 donation this week so that all 12 of the city’s school buildings and their administrative facility could have access to clean water.
All of the buildings will be equipped with new ultraviolet filtration systems that will be up and running by January 2019.
You’re most welcome. Hope to do more to help in the future.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 5, 2018
“We are deeply grateful for the generosity and the budding partnership between Flint Community Schools, the Musk Foundation and Elon Musk,” said Derrick Lopez, Flint Community Schools Superintendent, in a statement to MLive.
“The new water filtration systems will be instrumental in helping our students return to the normalcy of what should be a fundamental right: having access to safe, clean water from water fountains in their school,” he added.
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According to a city spokeswoman, representatives of Musk’s company have been in touch with the mayor’s office about how to continue addressing the water crisis. The CEO says that he hopes to orchestrate a weekend during which his company will be able to install filtration systems in all of the Flint homes with lead levels above the federal safety limit.
Clean Up Negativity By Sharing The Good News To Social Media – Stock photo by Dan Taylor Heisenberg Media, CC
This compassionate octopus “whisperer” has changed the way that the New England Aquarium cares for its eight-armed residents.
84-year-old Wilson Menashi has been volunteering at the aquarium for 25 years and logged over 8,000 volunteer hours. He started volunteering at the facility after he retired from his career as an engineer and decided to pursue his passion for fish and the ocean.
A large portion of his volunteer hours have been spent caring for the aquarium’s octopuses. In addition to becoming the first volunteer to ever touch an octopus, Menashi has created deep bonds of trust and affection with his cephalopod companions.
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When he noticed that the octopuses weren’t getting the entertainment that they needed, he used his background in engineering to create puzzles and toys for the intelligent sea critters to solve.
Menashi has become such an integral part of the aquarium’s team, he and 1,000 other volunteers were honored at a dinner that was held by the facility earlier this week.
But judging by the way he interacts with the octopuses, the real honor for Menashi is being able to befriend such clever and affectionate animals.
(WATCH the video below)
If This Story Floats Your Boat, Be Sure And Share It With Your Friends – Photo by New England Aquarium
Quote of the Day: “Don’t confront me with my failures. I have not forgotten them.” – Jackson Browne (70 years old today)
Photo: by Nikos Koutoulas, CC license
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
This compassionate innkeeper doesn’t care if he is sacrificing $50,000 worth of expenses – he just wants to take care of his neighbors.
Jaret Hucks owns the Midtown Inn and Cottages in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Since Hurricane Florence hit the east coast, he has opened his doors to dozens of evacuees free of charge.
To date, he has given away roughly 1,000 free nights to poor and vulnerable families. Not only that, he has welcomed their dogs, cats, and turtles, too, regardless of the pet policy.
“Love thy neighbor, right? That’s what you’re supposed to do,” Hucks told CBS News. “My mama taught me that a long time ago.”
Hucks has not been left empty-handed for his generosity, either – families have offered to help with the housekeeping and community members have donated diapers, ice, food, and clothes.
However, Hucks says that he is the most thankful for the knowledge that he is giving back to those who need it most and the handwritten thank you notes that he has received from the children.
(WATCH the video below)
Pass On The Sweet Story Of Community Kindness To Your Friends By Sharing It To Social Media – Photo by CBS News
An Indian man finally fulfilled his dream of becoming a pilot – and he celebrated the accomplishment by giving his elders the experience of a lifetime.
Vikas Jyani recently arranged air travel for all of the men and women of his village between the ages of 70 and 90.
For many of the 22 seniors who took Jyani up on his offer, it was their first time flying.
The village residents of Sarangpur in Adampur, India always believed that Jyani would achieve his dream of being a pilot, but they were deeply moved by how he kept his promise to give them the gift of flight.
One 90-year-old who had never been on a plane before told the Times of India: “Many people make promises to the elderly, but [Jyani] kept his word.”
Jyani flew the group from New Delhi to Amritsar where they visited the Golden Temple and the hallowed Jallianwala Bagh.
“He fulfilled his dream and that’s the most important thing for me,” the pilot’s father told the Times. “All youth should follow Vikas’s example and we should all respect our elders.”
Punjab pilot’s gift to grandfathers, grannies of his village; their first flight https://t.co/4iTo6VmqPr via @TOIGurgaon pic.twitter.com/W6QpLJPZxn
— Times of India (@timesofindia) October 8, 2018
Fly This Story Over To Your Friends By Sharing It To Social Media – Representative feature photo by Oleg Yunakov, CC
A long-awaited renewable energy project has finally come to fruition on the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history.
Chernobyl is a Ukrainian city that was abandoned in 1986 following a massive explosion caused by their nuclear reactor. The disaster polluted the surrounding area with radiation, making it mostly inaccessible – until now.
Earlier this week, a new 3,800-panel solar farm was launched on the contaminated grounds of Chernobyl, and it is expected to power roughly 2,000 homes.
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It is reportedly the first time that power has been produced inside of the 1,000-square-mile exclusion zone since the plant was shut down in 2000.
The $1.2 million solar project was facilitated by Ukrainian company Rodina and Germany’s Enerparc AG. The farm is set to start selling electricity in July as a part of Ukraine’s feed-in tariff policy.
“It’s not just another solar power plant,” Evhen Variagin, the chief executive of Solar Chernobyl LLC, told Reuters. “It’s really hard to underestimate the symbolism of this particular project.”
Power Up With Positivity: Share The Good News With Your Friends On Social Media – Photo by Solar Chernobyl
One soldier’s misfortune has turned into an incredible example of kindness following Hurricane Florence.
24-year-old Luis Ocampo is an army medic who left his home in Charlotte, North Carolina last month to help with hurricane relief efforts alongside his National Guard unit. His 20-year-old girlfriend, Kailey Finch, took their infant child with her to his parents’ house to wait out the storm.
Then, when the young couple returned to their home in late September, they were heartbroken to find that their house had been robbed. The laptop that Ocampo used for schoolwork, game systems, jewelry, and money were all missing.
Mary Elise Capron, a friend and colleague of Ocampo, was so heartbroken by the crime, she created a GoFundMe campaign to replace everything that was lost in the burglary.
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“I have worked closely with Ocampo, in the national guard and he is an amazing soldier and person,” she wrote in the campaign description. “I am honored to know him and cannot believe something so terrible could happen to someone so dedicated to the service, his family and school.”
Within two weeks, the campaign had surged past its original goal of $5,000 and raised roughly $15,000 for the couple.
Ocampo and Finch were stunned by the surge of generosity – but they also knew that they didn’t need such wealth; so they asked Capron to shut down the donation page.
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They kept what they needed to replace their stolen goods, but they donated the additional funds to the Soldier and Airmen Assistance Fund and other servicemen who had been affected by the hurricane.
“A big part of wanting to give the donations comes from seeing how generous people have been, and I wanted to pay that back to someone else who needed help,” Ocampo told PEOPLE, with Finch adding that: “Other people really need help that they can’t get.”
Pay The Positivity Forward By Sharing The Good News With Your Friends – Photo by Kailey Finch
Autumn is my favorite time of year, not just because the weather is beautiful, but also because fall brings some of the most delicious and nutritious fruits and veggies into bloom.
The interesting thing is that some of the most nutrient dense produce is also some of the most overlooked. Use these under-appreciated fruits and vegetables to spice up your mealtime, especially when it is so easy to include them.
My husband introduced me to Persimmons 16 years ago when he took me to meet his parents, who grew a giant tree dripping with these orange fleshy fruits in their backyard (photo, top, by eliza adam). Packed with Vitamin A and fiber, these sweet powerhouses are also known for their anti-inflammatory and anti-infective properties.
Try It: Puree the soft fruit and use it instead of oil when baking muffins, or carrot and spice cakes, for a sweet boost of fiber.
I have to admit that Pomegranates are my fall obsession. They are incredibly versatile as they can be added to savory and sweet dishes alike – they can be made into sweet treats, and even used in drinks. Their touted health benefits span from protecting the heart to aiding the preventing of colon, breast and prostate cancer. They can reduce symptoms of depression by stimulating serotonin and estrogen receptors.
Try it: Add pomegranate seeds to your stuffing for an unexpected twist at the Thanksgiving table.
Just a single serving of rutabaga provides you with 50% of the recommended daily value of Vitamin C. Low in calories and a rich source of soluble fiber, this almost unknown root vegetable can be used to maintain digestive health and aid in weight management. With such an impressive profile, it has become a much more interesting and nutritious alternative to potatoes in our home.
Try It: Slice the rutabaga, toss with some olive oil and bake like French fries – your kids won’t know the difference!
No, not celery… its root. Aside from being a great source of antioxidants, dietary fiber, vitamins and nutrients, celery root provides many other health benefits. With excellent benefits from analgesic, antiseptic, and anti-allergic properties and its regulation of the digestive system, this root should not be overlooked.
Try It: Eat celery root raw with some hummus for a new take on a mid-day snack.
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Loaded with the three major anti-oxidants found in foods – Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Vitamin E – collard greens help strengthen our body’s ability to fight the effects of chemicals and free-radicals. With amazing anti-inflammatory benefits, this cruciferous plant helps keep digestive health at its best.
Try It: Add chopped collard greens to a stir-fry mix for a colorful boost of vitamins.
One of fall’s powerhouse greens, endive lettuce is low in calories and rich in fiber. It is also packed with Vitamins A, beta-carotene and essentials from the B complex, such as folic acid. Its complex nutritional profile and rich flavor make it a great addition to any salad or stir fry.
Try It: Chop it up and add it to a stir-fry in the last 3 minutes of cooking for that extra crunch. Or, use the sturdy leaves as little bowls and fill with spinach dip or melted brie.
It might be hard to believe, but parsnips are actually more nutritious than carrots! As cousins, their flavor profile is similar making parsnips a great alternative, but unlike carrots, parsnips boast a high concentration of folate and potassium, both integral in keeping our bones, cells and muscles running efficiently.
Try It: Roast parsnips and sprinkle with Thyme and maple syrup for an energizing and sweet side dish.
A few years ago I attended a friend’s birthday dinner at a Persian restaurant and enjoyed one of the most memorable meals I’ve had in years. The reason? Dates. I had never thought to add dates to savory dishes, and found myself completely enthralled by the combination. The best part is that dates are high in fiber and contribute to heart and digestive health.
Try It: Substitute one date per tablespoon of sugar to sweeten your baked goods for a healthier treat. Mix them with hot curried chicken or rice dishes.
MORE: Five Fun, Creative Ways To Get Your Veggies In
It might seem that pumpkins are everywhere during the fall, but the reality is that people rarely take real pumpkins seriously when it comes to meal preparation. Pumpkins are one of the best sources of alpha and beta-carotene, which are essential for cell growth and healthy vision. Not to mention, pumpkin seeds are also a great source of omega-3s, a brain and mood booster.
To cook the pumpkin, use a crockpot, place the pieces in the crockpot with 1 cup water. Cover and cook on high for approximately 4 hours, it’s done when it’s soft! Scrape it from the rind and sprinkle with a bit of coconut, nutmeg, or cinnamon for a sweet treat.
Be adventurous and add some under-appreciated produce to your shopping list, you’ll be glad you did.
CHECK OUT: A Healthy Start to Your Day: How To Pick a Good Cereal
Monica Klausner is the Co-Founder of Veestro, a modern, plant-based meal delivery system that makes healthy eating “consistent, delicious and realistic.”
Share These Delicious Tips With Your Friends…
Quote of the Day: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank
Photo: by Greener Leith, CC license
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Police in Minnesota pulled over when they saw a vehicle stopped in the middle of the road with its door wide open. A young man was bent down near the curb, so the officers stopped to see if everything was alright.
They soon realized the teen was performing tiny chest compressions on a squirrel sprawled in the grass on its back.
Chris Felix told them the squirrel ran into his car, even though he swerved to avoid the worst.
“I’m trying to help it out,” he said.
The compassionate driver said he had been tending to the squirrel for nearly 20 minutes before the Brooklyn Park Police Department arrived, and their body cameras recorded the scene.
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They noticed the squirrel looked like it was “coming around” — and quipped that they should “put him up for a life saving award.”
Then, the camera caught he joyful moment when the critter was suddenly revived, and bolted off to the nearest tree.
“There he goes!” yelled the officer, who gave Chris a high five. “You saved his life, Dude!”
Chris told a WCCO news crew, “Little things mean a lot, in the long run… I gave it my best shot.”
(WATCH the video below)
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Spread the Love for Animals on Social Media…
Dr. Daniel McNeely has only published one tweet in his entire life and it has already earned him internet fame for the sweetest reason.
The neurosurgeon from the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Canada recently posted photos of himself performing “surgery” on a little boy’s teddy bear before the youngster was put to sleep for an operation.
8-year-old Jackson McKie was undergoing surgery to have a cyst removed from his brain. Since he suffers from a chronic condition called hydrocephalus, McNeely has been taking care of Jackson since he was an infant.
So when Jackson brought in his teddy bear for the surgery, he asked McNeely if he could treat the toy as well – and the neurosurgeon was more than happy to oblige.
McNeely asked the nurses to set out an extra table and set of tools for the stuffed animal so he could sew up a small tear in the teddy’s arm. He even managed to fix the “injury” with some of the leftover stitches from Jackson’s surgery.
Since it was his first time operating on a toy, he asked the nurses to take pictures of the heartwarming gesture so he could post them to Twitter with a caption reading: “Patient asks if I can also fix teddy bear just before being put off to sleep… how could I say no?”
Not only was it McNeely’s first time operating on a toy, it was also his first ever tweet – and it earned him thousands of followers.
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“I thought it might make a few people smile, that was the only intention I had,” McNeely told CTV News Atlantic. “I’m glad that others are enjoying it.”
He hopes that it will help to set a higher bar for how healthcare professionals can go the extra mile to care for their patients and make them feel more comfortable in non-medical ways.
“[McNeely is] one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met,” Jackson’s father, Rick McKie, said about the surgeon earlier this week, adding that Jackson was “tickled pink” to wake up from surgery and find that he and his toy friend had both been successfully treated.
Patient asks if I can also fix teddy bear just before being put off to sleep... how could I say no? pic.twitter.com/WOKFc5zr91
— P. Daniel McNeely (@pdmcneely) September 30, 2018
Cure Your Friends Of Negativity By Sharing The Sweet Story With Your Friends – Photo by Dr. Daniel McNeely
A stunningly serendipitous Uber meeting resulted in a college student giving a big hand to a little girl who needed it most. Hear The Good News Guru tell the surprising story (from the October 5, 2018 Ellen K. Morning Show on KOST-103.5 radio in Los Angeles).
WATCH the video at Good News Network…
LISTEN to this story in our podcast, told by The Good News Guru (the GNN Founder) on Friday’s radio broadcast with Ellen K on KOST-103.5 — Or, READ the story below… (Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes – or for Androids, on Podbean)
A stunningly serendipitous Uber meeting resulted in a college student giving a big hand to a little girl who needed it most.
Back in February, University of Notre Dame student Michael Skinner called for an Uber to take him home from a parenting event. The chatty engineering major started talking to his driver—and fortunately asked about his family.
Doug Anderson talked about his 11-year-old daughter Tori. He and his wife adopted her from China when she was 5 and brought her back to their home in Indiana. She was born with only one finger on each hand, a condition that caused her a lot of embarrassment and insecurity.
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He and his wife had approached different hospitals about getting Tori fitted for prosthetics, but doctors said she would quickly outgrow them—and they’re expensive. Money has been tight for the parents who have adopted two other special needs children. Doug, 58, took up Uber driving to earn extra money, and because he liked to socialize.
As fate would have it, the student in the back seat, Michael Skinner, was the perfect person to chat with.
Skinner works with an engineering group called e-Nable. The group 3D-prints robotic hands—and had been searching in vain for a child who needed one.
After several months of sizing and collaboration, Tori has been fitted with a new set of 3D-printed hands. She can now throw a baseball, write, and blow bubbles.
Her father, overwhelmed with gratitude, told the university, “I think that God absolutely had his hand in this.”
(WATCH the video below)
Give Your Friends A Helping Hand: Share The Good News To Social Media – Photo by University of Notre Dame
Two Dutch scientists are using algae to replace plastics throughout their city – and if their mission proves successful, they believe that no one will ever have to use plastic again.
Lounging on the surface of uncountable numbers of lakes, ponds, seas, and riverways, are mats of aquatic vegetation called algae – and they use photosynthesis to take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen back into the atmosphere just like every other plant species.
However, as useful as that function is to the planet’s survival, Dutch designers Eric Klarenbeek, and Maartje Dros have found another feature which could prove just as useful.
They have developed a bioplastic made from algae which they believe could be used to replace synthetic plastics over time. Dros and Klarenbeek grow algae, which they then harvest, dry, and turn into a material that can be used in 3D printers to create plastic items from trash cans and tableware to shampoo bottles.
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The designers believe that the algae polymer could entirely replace plastics made from fossil fuels, and they are kickstarting the transition by providing every restaurant and catering establishment in their city of Zaandam with completely new sets of flatware made from the algae-plastic.
Their goal is certainly ambitious, but not when compared with the true dream of these remarkable designers. They have partnered with a number of other companies producing bio-polymer to create a network known as 3D Bakery. They hope that – instead of buying products from large multi-national companies – one could simply walk down the street and “bake” some replacement items, whether it be cups, plates, flower vases, or tables.
Together with American company Ecovative, the studio has developed a commercial line of fungus-based products called Krown. The DIY kits allow consumers to grow their own lamps, tables or biodegradable picnic items.
MORE: America’s Largest Grocery Store Chain is Saying Goodbye to Single-Use Plastic Bags
Another feature of the studio’s 3D-printed products is that because they’re made of algae, a substance which absorbs CO2 from the air, they internally bind with the carbon when they are turned into solids, effectively becoming CO2 jailers that prevent the carbon from being released back into the atmosphere.
The designers believe that if algae were used to create the every day household products we depend on, the cultivation of algae would increase the amount of carbon being pulled out of the air; and considering the Earth’s surface is 71% water, algae mats wouldn’t take up essential land space.
“Everything that surrounds us – our products, houses and cars – can be a form of CO2 binding,” the engineers told Dezeen. “If we think in these terms, makers can bring about a revolution. It’s about thinking beyond the carbon footprint: instead of zero emissions we need ‘negative’ emissions.”
The algae project has been nominated as a finalist for the New Material Award of 2018. If it wins, then the team could be awarded up to $17,300 to continue development and manufacturing of the bioplastic.
Plant Some Positivity With Your Friends By Sharing The Good News to Social Media
Andy Corbley is the founder and editor of World At Large, a small environment, travel, and lifestyle focused journal that stresses integrity, nuance, and honesty which launched in early March 2019.
Quote of the Day: “Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness.” – James Thurber
Photo: by Elliot Margolies, CC license
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
In an emotional gesture of support and respect, these hospital employees have a special way of honoring patients who choose to be organ donors.
A video that was released last week by St. Luke’s Medical Center in Meridian, Idaho shows the staff members lining the walls of the facility’s fourth floor so they can pay homage to a 53-year-old organ donor.
The man, whose family asked to remain anonymous, was on his way to being taken off of life support so that his organs could immediately benefit another patient.
Whenever a patient or a patient’s family agrees to organ donation, the hospital employees – from janitors to surgeons – quietly stand in the hallway as the donor is wheeled to the operating room.
WATCH: In Twist of Fate, NFL Star’s Organs Go to the Ailing Sports Hero Who Inspired Him
The hospital has been performing the “Walk of Respect” tradition since they paid homage to an employee’s son who passed away a few years ago.
“It’s just a way we can honor the family who has made a difficult decision,” St. Luke’s spokeswoman Anita Kissée told the Idaho Statesman. “The family said it was just one of the most special things.”
Since the video has been shared across social media, other hospitals have reached out to St. Luke’s to express their interest in starting up the tradition at their own facilities.
(WATCH the video below)
Be Sure to Share This Love With Your Friends – Photo by St. Luke’s Meridian Medical Center
EarthTalk® From the Editors of E – The Environmental Magazine
“Dear EarthTalk: I’m getting ready to join the electric car revolution now that my old clunker is getting on in age. What’s the latest and greatest? And is now a good time to buy an EV?” –Doug Ellis, Sacramento, CA
Hybrid-electric cars have become more and more common on American roads since the Prius launched here in 2001. Now, fully electric vehicles (EVs) are finally coming of age thanks to innovations by Tesla, Nissan, BMW, General Motors and others.
It is not uncommon today to see a zippy little Nissan Leaf or a stately Tesla Model X silently waiting for the light to turn green next to you at an intersection. Believe it or not, some 21 different automakers now have some form of EV for sale in the U.S. And they have big plans—think SUVs—to raise the EV stakes over the next few years, beginning with a raft of new models slated for release in 2019.
Perhaps the biggest new player on the EV scene is Audi. The German company’s new e-tron Quattro SUV can drive for roughly 250 miles between charges and features a styling equivalent to Audi’s luxe gasoline cars. It will be unveiled later in the fall, and American consumers can expect to shell out some $80,000 for a new one. A smaller model, the e-tron Sportback, will ride on the same platform—and get a similar range rating—but will sport a zippier ride and a lower price tag (around $50,000).
On the cuter end of the spectrum, BMW will make an all-electric version of its iconic revamp of the Mini Cooper— the “Mini E”—in 2019. The car will get upwards of 200 miles per charge, and with a price tag around $36,000 will compete directly against the Tesla 3 for customers looking to spend on the lower end for an EV.
Another big emerging EV player is Volkswagen, which is hoping to clean up its reputation after the big emissions cheating scandal that cost the company $30 billion in fines and settlements. By slashing production costs, VW expects to make and sell some of the lowest cost EVs around, with four new models (two crossovers, a hatchback and a sedan) available in 2019 in the vicinity of $35,000.
RELATED: Tesla’s Giant Record-Breaking Battery Shows Stunning Success By Saving Consumers Millions
Of course, Tesla is poised for a big year, having worked out some production issues on its new Model 3 line and settled its financial differences with the SEC (following separate $20 million penalties to both CEO Elon Musk and Tesla the corporate entity). Customers have had to wait upwards of six months to get a new Model 3 once they sign on the dotted line, but Tesla hopes to eliminate the lag time in 2019 and rocket ahead of its competitors in the electric car space.
And yes, now may be the best time ever to buy an EV, given the profusion of advanced and now finally lower cost choices and the fact that there is still a federal tax credit of between $2,500 and $7,500 for doing so (depending on the size of the vehicle in question and its battery). Also, several states offer their own incentives to pile on the reasons to go electric now. That said, these incentives could expire or get cancelled depending on the political winds, so get it while you can.
EarthTalk® is produced by Roddy Scheer & Doug Moss for the 501(c)3 nonprofit EarthTalk. To donate, visit their website – or send questions to: [email protected].
