The Experiment
2019 has been an important year for electric vehicles in Rochester. While I’ve been working on Rochester Electric Vehicles since 2017 after the birth of my daughter, it officially launched this last July with the goal of transforming Rochester into the #1 city for electric vehicle adoption. It’s a big goal, but this past year has convinced me that we are on our way.
It’s easy to get caught up looking towards the next new thing and not stopping to take a look back at our journey so far.
So let’s take a look back. 2019 was the year that more of your Rochester neighbors learned about EVs, drove an electric car for the first time, and even got their first EV.
Rochester Electric Vehicles Meetups
Chris Lukenbill started bringing EV owners and the EV-interested together back in 2018 when he started the first EV Meetup in Rochester.
These meetups are an easy way to get together with other EV owners in town and talk about interests, issues, and hot topics. While information online can be scattered and confusing, these meetings have also become a low-pressure way for new people interested in EVs to learn more.
If you’re interested in joining a future meetup, follow our Facebook page for details on upcoming meetups.
Here’s a few things to know:
These events are free, open to the public, and everyone is welcome whether you’re an EV owner or not.
We usually have it at a place that you can get food and drink such as Pasquale’s Pizza, Taco JED, or LTS Brewery.
They’re pretty low key so you can come and go as you please.
We typically have an expert leading a discussion on a topic related to EVs.
They’re fun. You should join us.
National Drive Electric Week: Rochester EV Car Show
It was just over a month prior to the event happening that we realized that National Drive Electric Week was a thing. The organization started in 2011 and describes itself as a nationwide celebration to heighten awareness of today's widespread availability of plug-in vehicles and highlight the benefits of all-electric and plug-in hybrid-electric cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more.
For our first year, we felt that an EV Car Show would be a perfect way to give Rochester people an up close look at electric vehicles and be able to talk with the owners. Even with the short time to get ready, we decided to try to make it happen and see what kind of turnout we’d get. The results were kind of amazing.
I was watching the weather like a hawk all week and the prospects for a nice, sunny day were not looking great. As soon as we started setting up in the One Discovery Square parking lot, there was an immediate downpour. Luckily, the weather cleared up and we were off.
Although it was Rochester’s first year participating, we had 20+ local EV owners bring their car and over 100 people show up to look at cars, learn from owners, check out the electric bus. That’s right, we even had an electric school bus!
I think we’ll have to make this an annual affair.
Tesla Nighttime Ride & Drive Event
Looking at a car is fine, but the real fun comes when you get to sit in the driver's seat and truly experience the difference.
We specifically chose Tesla for our first ride and drive event because they are the undisputed leader in EVs. When you ask people if they’ve heard of a Leaf. Bolt, e-Golf, or other EVs you’ll usually get a puzzled look. It’s pretty hard to not have heard of Tesla. If you want to show people what’s possible with an electric car, you might as well start with the best.
There is a Tesla Showroom a little over an hour away in the Twin Cities area, but I wanted to bring the experience to Rochester. It was late November and a work day which meant it was going to be dark before 5pm. So we leaned into it and had our very first Nighttime Ride & Drive.
With this being our first try at this type of event, I didn’t know what to expect. With a week to go we had just 5 of the 15 test drive time slots spoken for.
On the day of the event, we had 30 people signed up to test drive or ride along! We just barely got everyone in, but every person that signed up was able to ride or drive in a Tesla Model 3 or Model X.
The Tesla folks also treated us to some of the crazier features like Smart Summon or the Model X-Mas Light Show.
I asked one person how their test drive went. Their eyes lit up and they nearly shouted “THAT WAS AWESOME!”. I agree. That was awesome.
Olmsted County EV Adoption
If you haven’t noticed by now I’m a bit of a numbers/data nerd. I think that numbers can tell a bigger story.
Last year, Dru Larson from RPU shared an interesting article with me that shows the number of registered EVs on the road by city and county in Minnesota. Being the overly-competitive person that I am, I wanted to know how my neck of the woods compared to the rest of Minnesota for EV adoption.
Obviously, the Twin Cities area leads in total number of electric vehicles. That was no surprise. But, I was really excited to find out that Olmsted County had the highest percentage growth in electric vehicle adoption with an 82% increase (Of the 10 largest MN counties).
If you’re also a data nerd, or a nerd, or even just a regular person, you can check out the full article here.
Will The 2020’s Be the Decade of the Electric Car?
All of these things highlight 1 thing to me: momentum.
While Electric Vehicles may still seem new and scary to some, you’ll be hard pressed to find an EV owner that would ever go back to a non-electric car.
I believe that the 2010’s were the decade setting the stage for large-scale electric vehicle adoption. My prediction is that the 2020’s are going to be when it really takes off.
THINKING ABOUT GOING ELECTRIC? HERE’S YOUR GUIDE & CHECKLIST
Download this free guide & checklist of things that I wish I had before buying my electric car. This will help make things easier to get started in your switch to electric.
Here’s what you’ll find:
Why Go Electric?
Electric Vehicle Options
Researching Vehicles For Sale
Plan For Day of Purchase
Finding Rochester Public Chargers
Charging At Home
Your Electric Vehicle Checklist