Tom Hanks’s EV has covered 50,000 miles

Tom Hanks is the latest Hollywood actor to be highlighted as a fan of electric vehicles (EVs), but his support for the technology dates back to 2003, since which time his own Toyota RAV4-EV electric car has covered over 50,000 miles.

In a letter to the New Yorker newspaper, Hanks describes his experience of owning an electric car:

“By the time I began shopping for an all-electric car, in 2003, the EV1 had already been yanked from showrooms as if the car had never existed. Instead, I found what was purported to be the very last electric car available for sale in the state of California – a Toyota EV. It had four doors, a rear hatch, room for my family, including a dog in the back, power windows, A/C, a great sound system, and the fastest, most effective windshield defroster known to mankind.”

“When the car companies collectively, and, to some, diabolically, decided to take these cars back, the electric vehicles disappeared. But not mine. I have the pink slip. I own that car, and it is still driven every day, albeit by one of my crack staff of employees. My electric car recently crossed fifty thousand miles on the odometer with its original battery but without so much as a splash of gasoline.”

What is the ETA?

The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. 29 years on, we continue to offer breakdown cover to all forms of car while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.