Gasoline inefficiency statistic of the day

I have a confession to make: I wouldn’t be all that charged up about plug-in cars without the solar-EV/PHEV connection.

Don’t get me wrong, the more I’ve learned about EVs and PHEVs since I jumped on the solar-EV/PHEV bandwagon a little over six months ago, the more clear it has become to me that converting America’s – and the world’s – auto fleet to electricity is crucial, even if does mean that a good portion of this electricity will be powered mostly (hopefully, temporarily) by non-renewable sources such as coal.

Still, if I wasn’t able to power our future EV with solar on our home, I wouldn’t be buying an electric car anytime soon.

Windmills -- and the renewable energy/EV synergy -- play prominently on the CODA Automotive web site -- as they should!

Just spent a little time surfing around CODA Automotive’s web site collecting information for a short overview piece we’ll be doing on the CODA EV Sedan for SolarChargedDriving.Com.

I have to say, CODA Automotive definitely gets it. By this, I mean CODA clearly understands that the best, most effective way to market EVs is to link them directly to renewable energy.

There’s a lot of pessimistic talk out there about how EVs and PHEVs won’t make it. Rooted in the age-old tired logic of the skepticism of the new and the often unconscious desire to maintain things “as they are” – no matter how polluting and filthy they are, the EVs/PHEVs won’t make it (anytime soon) mantra goes something like this:

"EVs are too expensive, there aren't enough places to plug them in, they’re too slow, batteries will never come down in price, battery technology is too uncertain right now, Li-ion batteries are dangerous, and finally, the million-and-one reiterations of range anxiety, range anxiety, range anxiety."

Does the world have enough lithium to supply a massive switch to lithium-ion batteries for electric cars?

As we move closer and closer to the reality of what increasingly looks like it will turn out to be millions and millions of EVs and PHEVs, many of them, at least to start, powered by lithium-ion batteries, discussion and debate about global lithium supplies is beginning to intensify -- as it should.

A solar-charged electric car with lithium batteries represents a light-years improvement on the consumption end over gas-powered cars. But I'm definitely concerned about: