Cece showing Dad how to take a selfie.
Fall of 2017 in the middle of the night, was when I realized I needed to make a change. Our daughter Cece (also responds to The Cecemeister) was recently born and we found 2 things to be true 1) Half of your time during this period is spent calming the kid down or trying to get them to sleep and 2) you can get absolutely nothing productive done while holding them. All you can really do is read an endless supply of terrible Buzzfeed articles and quizzes. Eventually after finishing the quizzes telling you that you would have been in Hufflepuff, you stumble across some actual news.
I remember nights holding the kid in one arm trying to calm her down and holding my phone in my other hand scrolling through a number of articles all telling me the same thing. Not only is climate change happening right now, but we also only have until 2030 to reduce carbon emissions enough to do something about it and fend off the worst effects within our lifetimes (Take a look the article. It’s a 5 minute read). That’s just over 10 years away.
As a new parent, thoughts about what our lives would be like in in 10, 20, 30, 50 years had already been swirling around in my head. The problems of climate change always seemed like some vague far off problem that we’d figure out eventually. Not something my kid would need to worry about and definitely not something I’d see the affects of.
“Well……..shit,” I thought. I wondered if she’ll get to enjoy some of the simple joys of Minnesota winters that I did growing. Going sledding, waking up to a white Christmas, the temps getting so cold that it freezes all the mosquitos and annoying bugs to death, staying warm inside because of said bug-death coldness.
Decision Time
It was at that moment that I figured I had 2 choices:
Ignore it. Do nothing. Hope that someone figures it out.
Accept reality. Do my part. Get to work.
I couldn’t look at this kid’s face, knowing what I know now, and continue to do nothing. This was the moment that my wife and I decided that we were going to do everything that we could realistically do to reduce our carbon emissions.
Making The Transition
It seems like it would be a huge life transition, but honestly there’s some pretty easy things you can do to reduce your emissions, waste, energy usage, etc. We did a lot of research and found things that show ways you can reduce your carbon emissions from low to high impact.
I also made myself a checklist of things we could do that I called the “couch to 5k of sustainability” (Because I’m fricken nerd apparently).
We had done all the easy stuff and then I started to think about my car...
Time To Get Replace The Ol’ Saturn
I was driving an aging Saturn Ion II and I knew that my dent-resistant, glorified golf cart wasn’t going to last much longer.
I decided that I was going to make the jump. I would commit to switching to electric and ditch my gas-powered car. None of my friends or family had electric cars so I didn’t have anyone to go to for advice. It came down to doing as much research as I could get my hands on.
Finally after scouring the internet for hours and days and squashing the fears I built up in my head, we made the trip up to the Twin Cities and got a Nissan Leaf. Not knowing how much to charge the car before leaving the lot, we had a bit of wild trip back, complete with an unplanned stop at Treasure Island hotel. But we made it home.
And you know what? After almost a year with my EV, I never want to turn back. I realized that all of the fears and challenges about charging, having enough power to make it where I needed to go, cold weather causing battery issues turned out to be overblown and fairly easy to overcome.
This would be one of the biggest ways to reduce our impact so far, but I still wanted to do more…
And Here We Are Now: Rochester Electric Vehicles
I have a theory. I think there are many more people in Rochester like me. Concerned about the road ahead and wondering what they can do on a personal level to make a better future.
As individuals, we can each make difference. But as a group, we can make a bigger impact together to create real change.
So this is my way to do more. I’m starting Rochester Electric Vehicles as an experiment to help move Rochester towards an EV city through education, inspiration, and removing fear caused by the unknown. I’m hoping that by being the guinea pig and letting you know exactly what to expect, you’ll make the jump too and make the transition to an EV when it’s time to get your next vehicle (or even before).
As part of this experiment I have also set a goal. This is the big question of the experiment:
Can I convince 100 people in Rochester to make the transition to electric vehicle in the next year?
Can I convince you to be one of the 100? I think I can.
The key to change is finding your motivation. My motivation is a better world for my daughter. I’m hoping that you find your own inspiration, your own Cecemeister, to convince you to make the switch now.
My Challenge To You
Now it’s time for your decision.
You now have a challenge set before and you face the same choice I did.
Will you close this article and keep going about your day, hoping someone else will figure out a solution to our problems? Or will you make a change because it can help make for a better life for your kids/friends/family in the next 10, 20, 30, 50 years?
Switching to an EV isn’t the only way to reduce your impact, but it’s an easy way to make a big impact. I want to help you get there.
I realize change can be hard so to help get you started, I’ve put together a free starter guide and checklist for what to know before making the switch to electric.
I think you’re ready. You can be one of the 100 fellow Rochesterites that makes the switch to an electric vehicle. Your future self will thank you for it.
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