Are Solar Powered Cars the New American Dream?
How much do you pay for gas on a weekly basis? Does money spent on gas every week bother you? If yes, then sustainable energy options are for you. But wait, are they really for you? There are many issues that could make you think twice. Is sustainable energy an affordable option? Is there a cheaper alternate to gas?
To me the world seems like a better place if sustainable energy was the order of the day. But it is far from an accessible and affordable option for the masses. True that, it will change the way we perceive the utilization of resources. It will also lighten the burden we place on our beautiful planet by reducing our dependency on fossil fuel.
Elon Musk of Tesla in one of his talks at the Tesla Design Studio in Hawthorne, CA had said, “By harnessing energy from the sun—this handy fusion reactor in the sky, —getting enough renewable energy on the power grid and smoothing out energy generation and use between peak and off-peak hours, the nation and planet can shift away from fossil fuels' dominance as a power source.”
Oh damn! I am out of gas won't be the SOS call anymore. Car service and assistance companies would go out of business and so will our monthly gas bills. Use of solar energy in cars has fascinated me since a long time. We all know the immense energy generated by the sun. What if we could optimize the use of solar energy in something which we use every day?
Cars form a major part of an American household. Every person here in the US is heavily reliant on cars for their personal transportation. According to a 2014 survey conducted by the Department of Motor Vehicles 90 percent of Americans commute to work every day by car. Nearly 4 percent of an average American’s income is spent towards gasoline according to a research by U.S. Energy Information Administration.
According to Oilprice.com, most of the nation’s daily crude consumption stems from transportation. If you’re an average driver in an average car, your crude consumption is in the order of 12 barrels per year. However, if your car is more than ten years old, chances are that figure is closer to 15 barrels annually. Does an electric car offer significant savings? Of course it does, but for an unconventional comparison let’s assume all of the electricity is sourced from oil – in truth, petroleum is not a very efficient fuel and accounts for just 1 percent of electricity generation in the US. Under this assumption, a Tesla Model S, with an 85 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery and a range of 260 miles, will consume approximately 8 barrels of crude per year.
That’s not very efficient, is it? That is one reason why solar energy although expensive is a possible solution to our energy consumption and cost control issues. Integrating automobile and solar technology is future of sustainable living.
Doug Newcomb, technology editor at Edmunds.com, summed up the carmakers' rationale for emphasizing technology over quality this way: "This doesn't surprise me at all. Cars are on parity when it comes to fuel economy, quality and other issues. When you shop for a mid-priced sedan, they are all pretty close. Technology often tips the scale."
In the times to come owning a solar powered car could be the sign of achieving the American Dream. We are not far from a day when gasoline resources will be on the brink of depletion and we are forced to think of newer ways to fuel our cars. Talk about revolutionizing transportation, solar technology definitely figures on top of the list. It will take some time before solar as a way of life becomes affordable for the masses. I am positive it will some day. My only concern is how soon?