ROCHESTER, Minn. - The Med City is growing and so is the desire for sustainable modes of transportation. Hence, enter electric cars.
The International Energy Agency predicts 125 million electric cars will be on the road worldwide by 2030. The agency estimates there are fewer than five million on the road now.
The City of Rochester has decided to join a collbaration purchasing more than 2100 electric vehicles by the end of 2020. These range from city and school buses to smaller vehicles. Talk to people already driving electric cars and they'll tell you this is the wave of the future like Chris Lukenbill who loves his electric car.
He views the decision to get more electric vehicles as a positive step to becoming a more sustainable city.
"There are so many different aspects of driving an electric vehicle that people come to it from," Lukenbill said. "There's obviously, of course, the environmental side of it, there's the enjoyment side of it of driving an electric vehicle. It's an enjoyable experience in a lot of ways and the economics side of it."
Rochester is one of 127 cities joining the effort to cut gas usage by up to 1 million gallons a year.