Seeing more electric vehicles in Sudbury? It's not your imagination

Carolyn Otto knew at some point she'd want to be driving an electric vehicle, but it took her a few years to actually purchase one.

A few years ago, she was doing a lot of driving between Sudbury and North Bay to visit her aging parents.

"It was costing me a lot of money for gas," she said. "I was comparing prices along that highway and not feeling good about what we were paying in Sudbury. I was really frustrated about that."

She alsohad the environment in mind and wanted to start living a greener lifestyle.

"I decided a long time ago I was going to go with an electric car but I wasn't sure about how quickly I could make that transition," she said.

Initially she went with a hybrid before switching to an electric vehicle. Now, she's the proud owner of a Tesla Model 3.

Even though she recently got it, she's driven about 5,000 km in it.

"I've had a few long trips," she said. "But I don't hesitate to take short trips around the city either anymore because I don't care about the price of gas, for the first time in years."

She says she can get upwards of 500 km on a single charge.

Watch this Telsa drive into a spot without anyone behind the wheel

5 years ago

Duration 0:44

Sudbury's Carolyn Otto shows how her new electric vehicle can back into a parking spot without a driver.

"I did go through a little of range-anxiety like everybody else does," she said."But I'm really confident now in how far I can go."

Otto isn't the only Sudburian trading in her vehicle for an electric one. According to the Electric Vehicle Society in Greater Sudbury, there has been an increase in electric vehicle purchases. Last July, the group had 95 electric vehicles registered, compared with 170 this year which is a 78 per cent increase.

"We're seeing a steady year-over-year increase in electric vehicles in Sudbury, which is trending the same as the rest of Canada," Devin Arthur, president of the group said.