Contact: PamMcCurdy, 651-757-2559
Drive Electric Minnesota helps get Minnesota ready for electric vehicles. All-electric Transit Connects emit no tailpipe pollution and represent about a 75 percent reduction of carbon dioxide compared to full-size gas-powered pickups.
WHAT: Members of the media will get a chance to test drive a new all-electric Ford Transit Connect – an electric commercial van – and kick the tires on four other new Transit Connects acquired by five members of the Drive Electric Minnesota partnership for their fleets. Representing the partnership are Minneapolis City Council Member Robert Lilligren; Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin; Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner Paul Aasen; and Judy Poferl, president and CEO – NSP-Minnesota, an Xcel Energy Company.
WHEN: 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, Nov. 2
WHERE: Minneapolis Convention Center, 1301 Second Ave. S.
Lobby, main entrance (on Grant Street/Second Avenue). Look for the Ford Transit Connect van outside and four more parked inside.
MORE: Electric vehicles are coming. They cost less to operate than gas-powered vehicles, they reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and they can be part of solving our air pollution problems. Five members of the Drive Electric Minnesota partnership recently received new Ford Transit Connects – electric mini cargo vans – for their fleets. The City of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, State of Minnesota, Metropolitan Airports Commission and Xcel Energy recently received electric fleet vehicles. Those purchasing these vehicles are seeking more sustainable fleet solutions by testing promising new technologies like this one and are also looking to support local, green jobs. Other members of the Minnesota partnership, the City of Saint Paul and Ramsey County, have or will get Transit Connects as they roll off the assembly line for a total of eight. The total fleet of eight all-electric Transit Connects will represent 95 tons of carbon dioxide avoided per year compared to eight full-size gas-powered pickups.
Drive Electric Minnesota is a partnership of local and state government, our largest utility, private business and nonprofit entities working to bring electric vehicles and plug-in charging infrastructure to Minnesota. For more information, visit www.driveelectricmn.org.
