What do John McCain and Barrack Obama have in common? They are both advocates of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Electric vehicles were common in the early '90s. However, the internal combustion engine provided greater range and came to dominate the market.
Plug-in hybrids are new. Take a typical Toyota Prius like the one shown in the photo above, add additional state-of-the-art battery capacity and you have a car that can potentially go up to 40 miles in all electric mode and then continue as a conventional gas/electric hybrid. Forty miles per day is more than the average daily commute of 85 percent of Americans.
Imagine driving to work and back home, plugging in at night during off-peak hours and re-fueling with domestically produced electricity that is less than $1 per gallon when compared to the cost of gasoline.
Imagine millions of electric and plug-in hybrids parked under solar electric shade structures at their owners' work. The vehicles would have the ability to take on additional electricity or be credited for putting it back into the grid at a higher rate during peak demand hours (www.rechargeit.org).
Imagine how this would reduce the need for additional peaker power plants and the positive impact it would have on all three areas of sustainability, economic, social and environmental.
Now imagine the cost of grid-tied solar electricity on your own roof or parking structure and how quickly it would be paid back by providing power for your home or business and fuel for your hybrid vehicle.
Why is it that Germany gets half the sunshine that California does, yet is the world leader in solar electric installation? Germany has a feed-in tariff that allows homeowners and businesses to sell surplus solar electric power to the utilities, not just break even like in California.
Imagine having an additional profit center and not having to incur the economic, social and environmental costs of running massive electrical transmission lines through sensitive areas to obtain electricity from elsewhere (www.sdsmartenergy.org).
General Motors states that its plug-in hybrid Volt will be available in 2010. Carlsbad-based Aptera (www.aptera.com) is taking orders for both electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. For you two-wheel fans, check out www.electric-bikes.com.
For more information, call (760) 434-0065 or e-mail [email protected].
Electric vehicles were common in the early '90s. However, the internal combustion engine provided greater range and came to dominate the market.
Plug-in hybrids are new. Take a typical Toyota Prius like the one shown in the photo above, add additional state-of-the-art battery capacity and you have a car that can potentially go up to 40 miles in all electric mode and then continue as a conventional gas/electric hybrid. Forty miles per day is more than the average daily commute of 85 percent of Americans.
Imagine driving to work and back home, plugging in at night during off-peak hours and re-fueling with domestically produced electricity that is less than $1 per gallon when compared to the cost of gasoline.
Imagine millions of electric and plug-in hybrids parked under solar electric shade structures at their owners' work. The vehicles would have the ability to take on additional electricity or be credited for putting it back into the grid at a higher rate during peak demand hours (www.rechargeit.org).
Imagine how this would reduce the need for additional peaker power plants and the positive impact it would have on all three areas of sustainability, economic, social and environmental.
Now imagine the cost of grid-tied solar electricity on your own roof or parking structure and how quickly it would be paid back by providing power for your home or business and fuel for your hybrid vehicle.
Why is it that Germany gets half the sunshine that California does, yet is the world leader in solar electric installation? Germany has a feed-in tariff that allows homeowners and businesses to sell surplus solar electric power to the utilities, not just break even like in California.
Imagine having an additional profit center and not having to incur the economic, social and environmental costs of running massive electrical transmission lines through sensitive areas to obtain electricity from elsewhere (www.sdsmartenergy.org).
General Motors states that its plug-in hybrid Volt will be available in 2010. Carlsbad-based Aptera (www.aptera.com) is taking orders for both electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. For you two-wheel fans, check out www.electric-bikes.com.
For more information, call (760) 434-0065 or e-mail [email protected].