Remember the mid-nineties? There was sort of a push towards environmentally friendly solutions throughout the decade, with fear of the rainforests disappearing, holes in the ozone layer, and heavy pollution. The whole thing kind of disappeared for a little while only to come back in force most recently with the global warming scares.
If there was one prediction proven false, it was the idea that we would all be driving solar powered cars by now.
Nope, that didn’t happen. Hybrids are starting to catch on, but solar powered cars? It would seem that that was nearly as much a pipe dream as the flying cars and hovering skateboards seen in Back to the Future Part 2. Solar powered cars are few and far between, mostly restricted to sportsmen entering solar-power-only races, and a handful of dedicated environmentalists.
The problem is basically energy consumption. In fact, solar racers usually have a team monitoring vital statistics such as battery life and solar energy capture throughout the race. These numbers have to be monitored very closely, with the team making adjustments and keeping the driver updated by wireless communication. A solar battery just doesn’t have the sheer power of a tank of gas.
But, something that is catching on, and with more than just a handful of Australian racing enthusiasts, is the solar power roof for hybrid cars (you could call it a sunroof! Right?). Companies like Solar Electrical Vehicles are working to develop solar roofs to store electricity for hybrid cars like the Toyota Prius, the Highlander Hybrid, and the Ford Escape. These solar modules work to charge the supplemental battery. Using the solar roof, a hybrid can improve fuel economy by around thirty percent, giving the driver twenty miles a day in electric mode.
The problem is that the system can cost anywhere from two to four thousand bucks. This means that it’ll take a good two or three years before you’ve saved any money on gas with the solar roof. This makes the solar roof much more of an environmentalist’s solution than really being practical for someone hoping to save on gas.
However, that the product even exists on a consumer level is good news. The day when we’re all driving hybrids is just around the corner, and it won’t be long after that we’ll be able to wean ourselves off of fossil fuel entirely.
Now, it may be twenty years or more before we’re all driving completely solar powered or water powered cars as an efficient, effective solution to fossil fuels, but the day is coming.
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