Rochester Facilities Manager Andrew Daniel is pretty pumped. After working on grants to get the town new electric vehicles, he’s seen his efforts come to fruition with the Christmastime delivery of three Kia Souls and the installation of two stations.

“They’re wonderful cars, spacious. They need little maintenance,” he said.

Daniel first heard about the Municipal Electric Vehicle Incentive Program when Marion received one of the grants. He began researching the option, and finding that it wouldn’t cost the town anything, pursued the grant.

The town’s existing cars, some retired police cruisers, have all seen better days. A few of them even have around 400,000 miles.

“They’re starting to need some pretty expensive maintenance,” Daniel said.

Leasing three new cars was a preferable option.

The town received $22,500 for the cars, which, with other rebates, makes them free to the town. The town also got $10,500 for the two charging stations, which can each service two electric cars. The grant requires there be one extra for any electric car to charge.

Rather than have the stations installed by an electrician, Daniel called in students from the Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School’s electrical department to do the work.

“I’m not sure they’re going to see something like this very often,” Daniel said.

Old Colony teacher Ed Cabral guided the students through the installation, which took about a week.

“They did a phenomenal job,” said Daniel. “They look sharp.”

Now, the cars are ready to go and can travel about 100 miles on one charge. Daniel said the Souls fit in better with Rochester’s character than the BMW option that Marion chose, though he admitted those are pretty “sharp.”

“Little SUVs is more Rochester than fancy BMWs.”