A Honda vehicle is seen charging on display at The Wild Center’s electric vehicle expo last year in Tupper Lake. (Provided photo — The Wild Center)

TUPPER LAKE — The vibes will be electric at The Wild Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday as the museum hosts Watts & Wheels, an electric vehicle showcase and clean energy discussion and celebration.

In addition to this event, general admission to the museum, including both indoor exhibits and its larger outdoor campus, will be free for everyone for the day. Leanne Favreau is the interpretative programs manager at The Wild Center and oversaw much of the Watts & Wheels planning.

The event is designed to build on last year’s electric vehicle expo, which drew around 1,600 visitors. Favreau said last year’s turnout was “impressive,” and said one of the biggest takeaways people had then was the economic impact that EVs can have on a family budget.

“Seeing how much money you can save after the initial investment of the vehicle and how much you can save every day from driving it, I think, was really shocking for folks,” she said.

Favreau added that the event brings together electric vehicle owners and people who might be interested in purchasing one, or are simply just curious about the owners’ experience. Being able to talk face-to-face, ask questions and get answers is something that Favreau said is both effective and hard to replicate by scrolling for online reviews, raves — or rants — about the technology.

“One of the best ways to change the hearts and minds of people is conversations with each other, having authentic conversations about the pluses and minuses with the technology,” she said. “One of the things that I think this festival does really well is it helps to bring in folks who own these electric vehicles, who live in the Adirondacks and the Northeast region, who have day-to-day experience driving them.”

As of Tuesday, Favreau said more than 40 vehicles are slated to be showcased, with some last-minute additions to the lineup likely throughout the week. For those on the fence about attending, Favreau said the chance to have so many unique vehicles in one place at once is rare.

“It’s going to be an opportunity to get into and see so many electric vehicles that you would (otherwise) have to drive to multiple dealerships and check them all out,” she said. “You get a one-stop shop to check out everything from electric buses and trucks to little tiny two-person cars, and everything in between. It’s a chance to get hands-on with electric vehicles in a way that would be a lot more cumbersome in your day-to-day life.”

Favreau noted that, of course, the battery performance won’t be as strong during colder weather, but that another takeaway from last year’s event was how rapidly battery technology and charging infrastructure have progressed, nationally and locally. As electric vehicles become more common, Faveau said the horror stories of people getting stuck on the side of the road during winter or not being able to make a trip due to a range limit have become far rarer.

While last year’s event was centered exclusively on electric vehicles, Watts & Wheels will have a broader focus on clean energy this year, its production, its growth in supplying the electric grid and its future.

“Understanding the renewable energies and how we make use of that energy matters alongside the conversation of EVs,” Favreau said.

When it comes to understanding the totality of EVs’ environmental impact compared to vehicles with internal combustion engines, Favreau pointed to the Research & Development Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (R&D GREET) model that was developed by Argonne National Laboratory researchers.

It’s a life-cycle assessment model — for both internal combustion engine and electric vehicles — that takes into account the environmental impacts and energy use that’s required not just to operate a vehicle, but in sourcing the materials for development and the recycling or decomposition of the various components of a vehicle after its no longer operable. For electric vehicles, the model also considers greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels that are burned to generate some of the electricity in the grid. More information about R&D GREET can be found at tinyurl.com/mr2sk5d7.

“Electric vehicles — even with the battery manufacturing, even with the end-of-life processing — are still significantly more efficient and reduce our greenhouse gas output significantly, even when you consider those things,” Favreau said.

In addition to the discussion and educational component, Favreau said Watts & Wheels will be a lively event. There will be live music, a variety of kids’ activities and Sun Day Wool tapestry artwork on display. Although the event is free and open to the public, Favreau encouraged people to sign up in advance to give organizers a better idea of how many people to expect. To register and find out more about it, visit tinyurl.com/2hwmxh2m.