Environmental reasons to solar-charge an EV

solar-resources-flowers-pic1There’s no disputing that running an EV or PHEV fully, or partially on the sun, is far more environmentally friendly than using gasoline.

First, in contrast to gasoline, the sun is a clean, direct, renewable form of energy. And you generate sun fuel for your EV and/or PHEV locally. Sun doesn’t have to travel thousands of miles from war-torn countries like Iraq to power your car.

Sun power travels a few meters from your solar panels, through a solar inverter, into the electrical wiring in your house, through the cord you plug into your outlet and into the batteries of your EV.

The sun is a clean, direct, renewable form of energy. And you generate sun fuel for your EV and/or PHEV locally. Sun doesn’t have to travel thousands of miles from war-torn countries like Iraq to power your car.

That’s it.

Second, when you drive your solar-charged EV around, you produce absolutely no emissions.

None whatsoever!

Think about that.

This is different – radically different — from our current, smog and gas-vapor filled driving experience.

Today’s driving experience: Choking on gas-vapors
Take the following scenario: A simple red light at a four-way intersection which brings together four roads with four lanes of traffic each.

It’s a common and, frankly, often unpleasant traffic space. It’s also one with which essentially all suburban and urban Americans are familiar.

You’re surrounded by the “wonderful”, “fresh”, “clean” smell of gasoline vapors and enveloped in a cloud of toxic carbon monoxide and particulates spewing out of the cars around you – and, of course, out of your own car.

It’s a beautiful, bright, blue-sky May day. A gentle breeze is blowing, the trees and flowers on the sides of the road are blooming, the air is fresh – wait a minute! No it’s not!

You’re surrounded by the “wonderful”, “fresh”, “clean” smell of gasoline vapors and enveloped in a cloud of toxic carbon monoxide and particulates spewing out of the cars around you – and, of course, out of your own car.

You’re literally breathing your own fumes, and everyone else’s. And they’re breathing their own fumes, and everyone else’s.

Tomorrow’s driving experience: No more fumes?
Now, imagine sitting at the same red light, at the same traffic congested intersection and you – and everyone — are driving an EV or PHEV, ideally, all of them at least partially solar-charged.

Imagine also, that at that moment, on this picture-perfect May day, simply by sheer luck the PHEVs are all running in battery mode.

No cars spewing carbon monoxide and toxic particulates into the air and no gasoline vapors. None whatsoever. Just air. Clean, crisp, fresh air, air that won’t cause asthma and aggravate dozens of other health conditions.

Let’s paint our giant-intersection picture again:

It’s a beautiful, bright, blue-sky May day. A gentle breeze is blowing, the trees and flowers on the sides of the road are blooming, and the air is fresh.

Yes it is!

No

None whatsoever.

Just air. Clean, crisp, fresh air, air that won’t cause asthma and aggravate dozens of other health conditions.

It’s almost as if everyone is running their cars on air!

We’ve become so accustomed to constantly breathing each other’s gasoline fumes – and our own, that the second vision I’ve drawn here is a completely foreign one.

A radically different reality
It’s so radically different from our current reality that even I can’t really quite wrap my head around it.

No disgusting, smelly, gross, toxic fumes anymore.

They’re all gone.

And, in their wake, nothing but fresh, crisp, clean air.

No, this is not some far-fetched, futuristic, “out there” scenario. It’s a completely realistic reality, one we all could be living within the next 10 to 15 years

Imagine that!