For some years now, I have been patting myself on the back and smugly telling people that my husband and I are an environmentally-conscious, one-car family.

Phil’s beloved 1966 seafoam green Volkswagen Beetle was totaled several years ago, and we never replaced it.

Since then, we’ve shared our 2006 Honda CR-V and rarely have arguments over who gets to use it. Even if we have to be in two different places at the same time, we figure it out.

It helps to live close to downtown, where we can walk most places; and an MTD bus stops at our corner, so we often use that to get to the airport.

Ever since my son-in-law plopped a $10,000 new engine into his aging Toyota 4Runner, instead of spending $40,000-plus on new wheels, I have vowed to do the same automotive version of a heart transplant on my CR-V when the time comes.

“I’m not getting a new car!” I’ve insisted — until now.

Not easily swayed by everything I read online, a recent article implying that gasoline prices in California could hit $8 per gallon in the not-so-distant future got my attention. There’s also the fact that the CR-V is pushing 200,000 miles.

Maybe we should think about an electric vehicle, I told Phil, who though not totally convinced, started combing the internet for EVs that might fit our needs. He’s always said an EV would be the perfect car to get around in Santa Barbara.

Getting a second car was not a totally random idea. Our daughter Marisa has been trying to get us to adopt her own pre-loved CR-V; it’s the same year as ours, but, respectfully, hers is in a bit more of a “pre-loved” condition.

Marisa’s car is affectionately named “Jane Honda,” and while it has likely had just as much exercise as its celebrity namesake, I’m not sure it has the stamina to make it from its current home in Colorado to our house in Santa Barbara.

Marisa and family just leased a new EV they named “Emma Watson.” It took me a minute, but I finally got the Watt-son reference.

The other bit of urgency to buying an EV sooner rather than later was the sunsetting of an enticing federal incentive in the form of a $7,500 tax credit for buying or leasing non-internal combustion engine cars.

There are plenty of other local and state rebates and credits still out there, but their longevity could be an issue if the money runs out.

With all that in mind, Phil and I attended a recent EV Resource Fair hosted by the Community Environmental Council in downtown Santa Barbara to learn even more.

Representatives from the CEC and other local eco-organizations offered information about the rebates associated with buying or leasing an electric vehicle; salespeople from Kia and Hyundai dealerships in Santa Maria were on hand to show off their cool EVs; and a couple of EV owners showed up with their personal cars to chat with visitors about their experiences.

We learned enough that evening to take the next step and go for some EV test drives the following weekend.

While there are car dealerships in Santa Barbara that sell electric vehicles, we were interested in the Kia and Hyundai models, and the closest dealers are in Santa Maria or Oxnard.

We were a little worried about potential long drives for tune-ups, but the good news is, EVs allegedly don’t require much maintenance beyond rotating tires, replacing the cabin air filter, and adding windshield wiper fluid. Problem solved.

Although the federal tax credit is now off the table for EV purchasers, local and state rebates/credits are still available for vehicles and home chargers.

If you’re interested in an EV, check out the websites for Santa Barbara’s Residential EV Program and more electric vehicle resources.

There is plenty of information on incentive levels, who is eligible, how to apply and how much money or credit is available.

You can also learn where the charging stations are around town and what it costs to use them. Not all charging stations are the same, and the price to use them changes depending on the time of day.

Frankly, the information can be a little confusing, but the FAQ section is helpful, and substantial financial savings — to say nothing of an eco-friendly new vehicle — could be in your future.

We ended up leasing a Hyundai IONIQ 5 and are pretty happy with it, although it does have a lot of bells and whistles, and a fairly steep learning curve for EV newbies.

On the way home after getting the car at a dealership in San Luis Obispo, Phil and I took turns driving the IONIQ 5 and the CR-V.

The EV basics are pretty straightforward, and other than getting the engine started and putting on the headlights, all I really wanted to do was be able to turn on the radio for that maiden voyage.

I managed to get my favorite NPR station going, but not without blasting myself with freezing air from the AC unit at the same time.

While trying to figure out how to stop the AC, I must have been veering a bit from the exact center of the freeway lane, and the IONIQ — which senses your every move and does its best to get you back on track — kept warning me with a dashboard light shaped like a cup of coffee that it might be time to take a caffeine break.

It was a little annoying, and a bit creepy in a Big Brother sort of way, but I feel like the car is watching out for my safety. And I rarely turn down an opportunity to get a cup of coffee.