Electric Vehicle Show Comes to Lake Wales September 25

A small fleet of electric vehicles is expected to roll quietly into downtown Lake Wales on September 25, where they will be on display along Market Street in conjunction with the Saturday Farmers Market.

Vehicles including a Tesla Model Y and Ford Mustang Mach E will be open to public inspection, so visitors may safely sit in and check out the quiet motors, high-tech features, and the comfortable interiors of the cars.

The display of vehicles will take place on Market Street north of Central Avenue, across for Polk State College JDA Center. It will run from 9:00 to 1:00 along with the market. Food and beverages are always available at the twice-a-month Farmers Markets.

The show is part of the National Drive Electric Week, a nationwide effort to show and share the latest automotive technology.

"This will be a fun event," said Karen Freedman, one of the event organizers. "People will see that they look like normal cars, but with extra storage. Some of them have "frunks!" Freeman, who co-chairs the Polk League of Women Voters Climate Action Committee.

The new plug-in vehicles are part of a global shift by the auto industry as they move away from internal combustion engines.

Freeman got her motivation to be part of the change after being stuck in traffic with "hundreds of cars idling for hours, emitting CO2." She worries about the effect of pollution on children from idling cars and buses as they are discharged from school,

Other vehicles on display will include a Ford C-Max Energi, Chrysler Pacifica, and Chevy Bolt.

To register for the event, you may visit the event web site here. A simultaneous event will be held in Winter Haven that day.

The event is sponsored in part by a host of national businesses, including Wells Fargo Bank, Nissan, the Electric Auto Association, Sierra Club, and Plug-in America. Local sponsors include the EV Outreach Committee of the Polk Democratic Environmental Caucus, The League of Women Voters, and the Ancient Islands Chapter of Sierra Club.