A few months ago we wrote about an inspiring plan by two Columbia University graduate students to drive across the U.S. in a production, highway capable EV powered only by solar-electricity the pair plans to generate via a unique portable solar unit they will trail behind them.
Garrett Fitzgerald and Rob Van Haaren want to drive 3,200, 100-percent solar-charged miles from coast to coast in the summer of 2012.
āTo our knowledge, a trip like this where we wonāt be using any offset electricity hasnāt been done before,ā Fitzgerald told SolarChargedDriving.Com in April.
āWe will be completely autonomous in terms of where the electricity comes from ā we will never be plugging into the electric grid,ā added Van Haaren.
A 100% grid free journey
However, while Fitzgerald and Van Haaren will be 100-percent grid free during their journey, they need your help so that they can embark on their historic trip.
{googleAds}<div style=”float:right; margin-left: 10px;”>
<script type=”text/javascript”><!–
google_ad_client = “pub-7703542917199961”;
/* 200×200,
created 12/8/09 */
google_ad_slot = “7950368454”;
google_ad_width
= 200;
google_ad_height = 200;
//–>
</script>
<script
type=”text/javascript”
src=”http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js”>
</script>
</div>
{/googleAds}
Right now, theyāre working hard to raise the money theyāll need to complete the trip. They estimate theyāll need about $20 per mile, or about $64,000 total to do what has to be one of the coolest cross-country road trips weāve heard about.
We just sauntered over to their donations web page and donated a few dollars to help the pair do what no one has yet done ā drive a production electric car across America with electricity generated 100 percent via solar energy.
Weāre sure theyād appreciate your help as well. So, if you find their trip inspiring, we hope youāll consider donating.
If youād like to learn more about their journey before you donate, you can read about it in a feature story we wrote about Fitzgerald, Van Haaren, and SolarJourney.USACom a few months ago.
To donate to SolarJourneyUSA, go to: http://solarjourneyusa.com/donate.php
Related articles–>
- A solar-powered road trip across America
- Purdue University students’ car leaves oil in the dust
- Electric scooters of future could be solar-powered
- Solar-charged driving 101
Like this story? Interested in the solar EV/PHEV synergy? Join our Sun MilesĀ® Club and start meeting & interacting with other people around the world who want to drive, or already are driving, their cars on sun! Register to join us today!