I was having a conversation with a good friend of mine recently, and the subject of Elon Musk came up. For those that don't know, Musk is the creator many business ventures including Tesla Motors, an electric car company. My friend was not too fond of Mr. Musk, and when I asked why, he said that most of Musk's business ventures wouldn't work in the state, including Tesla cars.

Now, while I did disagree with him, I understand his point. We live in Montana, which is just not equipped for many of the futuristic ideas that Musk has rolled out over the years. According to their website, Tesla only has 13 of their Superchargers in the state of Montana, with only one being in the Magic City (for reference, there are 13 Superchargers in the Seattle Metropolitan Area according to the same map). There just isn't a demand for the vehicles in the city.

But, Why Not?

Personally, I agree with the idea of electric cars, because they don't use finite resources such as oil or gas. They also don't fill the air with toxic fumes that are horrible for the environment and its people. Consider the cost of gasoline at the moment; with an electric car, you'll never have to stop at a gas station and pay an absurd amount of money for gasoline. It does take a while for the car to charge up, but the Tesla Superchargers are capable of charging their cars in 15-25 minutes, which is around the same amount of time I spend at a convenience store outside a gas station on any given road trip.

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Montana Should Be Next

I think it's time for Montana to expand its technological reach, and I think electric cars are a good starting point. Many Montanans may not agree with me on this subject, but technology is something I'm quite intrigued by and passionate about. I'd much rather spend more money on a vehicle that I'll never have to put gas in ever again than spend 30 to 35 dollars a week on gasoline for a car I spent less than ten grand on. Plus, I like to travel, and electric cars can travel quite a ways before needing a charge. Sign me up, Elon.

Photos: 20 of Billings' Favorite Cars

Check out these beautiful cars at Hotrods & Caffeine, every second Sunday at Leo's Casino.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

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