Electric Vehicles Should Quickly Move To Solar Charging

Are Electric Vehicles Really This Clean?

I am a huge fan of Tesla and the Electric Vehicles revolution in general and I’m fully convinced that the world is actually done with fossil fuels madness. It has adversely affected our climate in the past 100 years and this finite source of energy is about to dry out very soon!

I hope you have read or heard enough of the Electric Vehicles (EV) as they are simple to design and build, very efficient as compared to our regular internal combustion engine (ICEs) vehicles; they don’t have a radiator, no exhaust emissions, no catalytic converters, no lubricants, thereby reducing not just the carbon footprint to zero but also maintenance.

[NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE]

But have we really freed ourselves from the fossil fuel addiction? Will it really make the world carbon-free? Will it really positively impact our planet and humanity? Not quite yet.

A recently published study by American Economic Review points that EV (Electric Vehicles) actually cause more pollution than the gas-powered cars in the Midwest (U.S.) due to its over-reliance on coal to produce electricity (which in turn is needed to charge the EVs).

The researchers also went so far to suggest that:

In many locations, the comparison between a gasoline vehicle and an electric one is really a comparison between burning gasoline or a mix of coal and natural gas to move the vehicle.

They also add:

For a variety of reasons, including technological advances, environmental concerns, and entrepreneurial audacity, the market for pure electric vehicles, which was moribund for more than a century, is poised for a dramatic revival

Climate change is a “super wicked problem” because it is global, it affects everyone, and it involves disrupts entire ecosystems. But if gas-guzzling electric grids is not the answer, what are the other alternatives then?

But if gas-guzzling electric grids is not the answer, what are the other alternatives then?

Free energy from solar powered charging stations (SPCSs)

Consider a world with a smart grid, hundreds of millions of EVs, mostly powered by solar and wind energy, with millions of SPCSs and reduced emissions from combustion of coal and petroleum.

Above image is of solar energy power generator project by German entrepreneur Andre Broessel, check out his firm Rawlemon for more details. These are one of many initiatives that are moving from test to maturity as the world increasingly will rely on more sustainable energy source to power their vehicles, houses; just about everything actually!

What would the alternative energy powered world look like? Many countries are already moving ahead with their energy independence and adopting the wind and solar power. Norway, Middle-East are some of the fast movers!

Agreed that this transformation to electric powered vehicles supported by a vast array of solar powered charging infrastructure and a smart grid will take a decade or two but I think this will happen faster.

This rate of transformation is about to increase dramatically as innovation and rapid adoption of solar powered cells and battery capacity will bring the consumption to a scale and eventually tipping point when the price of battery packs will drop precipitously.

Just like the hard disk drives where 50 years onwards we don’t talk about the cost of capacity anymore. That cost is already dropping rapidly, take a look!

As for solar, the number of new installations of solar panels to generate electricity has been growing rapidly as well. Between 2015 and 2050, progress in sustainable development could include the addition of many millions of EVs and SPCSs as well as the installation of a smart grid with real-time prices for electricity.

Japan’s Toyota is moving fast well, on October 14, 2015, it announced that it aims to reduce the CO2 emissions from its new automobiles by 90% by 2050. These anticipated developments have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions substantially and before we forget: create many jobs!

So, I guess we all are in agreement that it is the best case for a super clean and even more sexier, gas-free world.

Marrying the beauty of EV with hotness of Solar

So once again, an EV is far more efficient than a gas-powered vehicle. The price of wind and solar have decreased dramatically as well making it an economically viable form of power production like never before.

Bringing solar power and EVs together, we get an interaction effect that helps both causes and both, in fact, magnify the effects of each other. EV owners can store more power capacity at the cheapest cost utilizing the time-of-use prices of electricity.

Proper business models are still needed for SPCSs since electrical energy is regulated based on locations with multiple stakeholders such as parking lot owners, charging station owners, utility, employer, EV owner could be involved.

While many social, environmental, government and policy aspects remain to be fixed to make this work at a global scale, we cannot ignore the combined strengths and benefits both solar powered charging stations and EVs have to bring to the whole world of transportation.

[NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED HERE]

Disclaimer: I have worked in the oil & gas sector in the 90s, having transported all forms of oil (crude, gas — butane, propane, nafta etc) and have enough experiences — both good and bad, to share on how we went about doing our business across the globe.