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- Jul 3, 2012
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Velocity173
I've always thought that it's silly that we all charge electric cars at home. Ideally, electric cars should be charged wherever they sit for long periods during the day, so that they can use energy from local solar rather than taxing the distribution grid. In fact, if there were solar-only charging stations wired to provide the right DC voltage, maybe we could get away without pushing the juice through an inverter and then rectifying it back to DC and the inefficiencies inherent in those processes.
That could be quite a safety advantage... Though damage to batteries can also be dangerous, it doesn't result in the instant fireball that a gas tank breach can. While Lithium is nasty stuff and the fires do result in being very hot, they generally happen fast enough for occupants to exit safely, and they don't happen nearly as often as gasoline fires in cars either.
Problem is solar still isn’t affordable. The only solar car charging station I’ve seen cost over 40 grand. I’ve seen house solar systems going for just under that but I’m still not in a position to upgrade yet. Hard to pay that much for solar when I can charge my Volt on the grid for $1.30 per charge.