By Aaron Thomas, WRAL reporter

WENDELL, N.C. — Efforts to advance electric vehicle use are being made in Wake County. On Wednesday, Gov. Roy Cooper and Congresswoman Deborah Ross, two supports of investing in that type of infrastructure, toured the Siemens hub in Wendell.

"You see cities and schools that have already acquired electric buses — life is so much better. People know you don't have all of the diesel fuel coming out of them," said Cooper.

The company recently partnered with GoRaleigh as buses and other forms of transportation transition into electric use to cut down on emissions.

"I'm excited when I see charging stations on the floor at Siemens," said Cooper. "We're going to be using them and deploying those all over North Carolina when we put our charging infrastructure in, so that's exciting."

"One of the keys to having more electric vehicles on the road is making them more affordable to every day North Carolinians. The more we can make, the more charging stations we can have across the area, the more competition we can create. Those prices are going to come down and we are going to get more [electric vehicles] on the road," he said.

Siemens President and CEO Barbara Humpton said the investment in electric vehicles is transforming the automotive industry as a whole.

"That charging infrastructure really relies on local government making the investment to bring charging infrastructure into our community," said Humpton.

Cooper recently set a goal of registering 80,000 zero emissions vehicles in North Carolina by 2025. Ross, who represents the area in Wendell where the Siemens hub is located, said the investment reduces the United States' dependency on foreign oil.

"If we're not relying on other people's energy, if we produce things here, then we're not going to see these spikes in gas prices in the future," said Ross.

North Carolina has been charging ahead with electric vehicle technology. Global electric automobile manufacturer VinFast selected Chatham County for the site of its multi billion dollar EV plant and Toyota plans to build a $1 billion battery plant in Randolph County.

With gas prices reaching historic highs, Wendell resident Deborah Altice said she likes the concept of going electric.

"I think it will be a big seller in the future," said Altice.

Siemens added 100 jobs in the past year and hopes to add about 50 more as a push for electric vehicle and charging grows.