The new plug-in Hybrids (PHEV) will revolutionize the way we think about fuel efficiency. Chevy has one called the Volt and Toyota has a new version of the Prius. Currently, neither one is available for purchase to the masses, but they are coming and sooner than we may think.
These vehicles will charge overnight and then run off the electric battery until the power is depleted, at which point, it switches to the standard Hybrid method of fuel consumption.
CalCars.org and OEMtek agree that the initial charge should last between 50 to 70 miles. That means if you drive less than 25 miles to work each day you could conceivably get there and back each day without using a drop of gasoline. Now, that’s what I call reducing dependency on foreign oil. But can we do even better? Let's try something completely new.
Rather than run up your electricity bill to save oil... what about a way that is totally clean and will produce sufficient energy to fully power the car’s battery at $0 cost… What about a solar panel garage door.
Solar panels are able to produce about 1 kWh of total energy for every square meter of surface area. A standard double-wide garage door measuring 16′x 7′ provides about 10.4 square meters of surface space. That should produce the amount of energy needed. Solar panels have advanced to the point where they can be anywhere. There are marine solar panels, solar roofing and curved solar panels. So, why not on the garage door?
Think about it… the technology exists right now – right now. That we could drive back and forth to work every day and never use a drop of gas (as long as it’s less than 25 or 30 miles from home).
Let me know if you've done this or are thinking about it!!
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