What You Need to Know About EV Chargers
Your Fuel Source 2014
WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Your Fuel Source 2013
Electric vehicles possess many advantages over internal combustion engine (ICE) cars:
- According to the DOE, electric cars are about 3x as efficient as ICE cars at converting stored energy into motion (current EVs get between 3.5 – 4.25 miles/stored kWh)
- EVs recharged with renewable energy emit ZERO emissions while charging or driving
- A gallon of gasoline produces approximately 20 lbs CO2 at the tailpipe
- A pound of coal produces approximately 1 kWh and 2 lbs of CO2 at the power plant
- A solar module pays back the energy used to produce it in approximately 1 year
- EVs are quieter, accelerate more quickly, and require less maintenance than ICE cars
- EV’s include up to $7,500 Federal tax credit & a 10% Illinois rebate
- Typical 2014 MSRP entry-level EV cost:
- 1) Nissan Leaf: $29,000 – $7,500 FTC = $21,500 – 10% IL Rebate = $19,350
- 2) Chevy Volt: $35,000 – $7,500 FTC = $27,500 – 10% IL Rebate = $24,750
- 3) Tesla Model S: $69,900 – $7,500 FTC = $62,400 – 10% IL Rebate = $56,160
- Fact #1: 1 kWDC solar = ~ 4,000 miles driving/year (based on 1 kWDC = 1,300 kWh/yr)
- Fact #2: A solar EV saves $1,200-$1,300/yr in gas costs over an ICE car (25 mpg @ $3.25/gal)
- Bottom line: replacing your current car with a solar EV will pay for your solar installation in 4-6 years–substantially less time (about 50% faster) than that required to payback your system when only offsetting your home’s electricity.
- The other really neat thing about solar EV’s is that the savings are agnostic to your utility rate—they depend only on 1) your solar system cost/kwh, 2) mpg of the vehicle you are replacing, and 3) the price of gasoline which has risen 9% annually on average since 1990 while the price of solar has dropped 5-fold in that same time.
- Dane Glueck testimonial:
“It’s remarkably liberating to produce my own energy, from my own house, that powers my car – without any hassles. It’s also remarkably easy. Our family has had solar panels on our roof saving energy and money since 2007. Now, we take further advantage of that clean, self-produced energy by simply plugging the Volt into an outlet. It literally takes seconds to plug in and receive up to 40 miles of clean, guilt-free energy. Beyond that, our paradigm has shifted. It seems odd, almost annoying, to need to take the time to get gas – to find a gas station, to get out, to pay, to stand there while fossil fuel is poured into the tank to be burned in a very inefficient way. It’s so much simpler, values-consistent, and financially beneficial to simply plug into solar powered energy in my own garage.
- Eric Swillinger, SUS VP Business Operations testimonial:
“Leasing our Leaf last summer to support our multiple daily trips to municipalities for permits processing was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. We drive our Leaf about XX miles/month and at XX cents/hour utility rate, it has saved us $XXX a month on fuel costs. When we finishing installing our Ameren rebate-funded 35-kW solar array atop our new facility at 10330 Page Industrial Blvd this spring, we’ll be enjoying a solar-equivalent utility rate of less than 1¢/kwh for the building and driving the Leaf for about 5 miles/penny—I can’t think of a better way for a business to control operating expenses than with environmentally clean and low/fixed-cost mobility. We can’t wait until EV vans and trucks become available on the market”
- Mike Hornitschek, SUS Director of Strategic Development:
“We bought our Volt in July 2013 and 9,000 miles and 6 months later, my wife has so fallen in love with the experience that she has not driven an “old fashioned” car since—we will never go back to a gasoline car again. My wife enjoys the freedom from the financial constraint we used to have when driving our other cars to conduct life’s daily business, and I enjoy the freedom from environmental guilt that EVs bring to our lives, especially once we get our own solar array installed here on our Belleville home in March. Perhaps most unexpected was the tangible feeling of increased freedom and independence we both immediately felt knowing our carbon-free driving costs were fixed and we could get out and enjoy life anytime we wanted to—the future is bright!”
- Useful or interesting websites/reference documents (and adding more all the time!):
- http://energy.gov/articles/egallon-how-much-cheaper-it-drive-electricity
- http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/evtech.shtml
- http://solarpowerelectriccars.blogspot.com/
- http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1089876_electric-cars-solar-will-they-make-gasoline-utilities-obsolete
SUMMARY: Understanding that using solar energy to provide EV mobility doubles the IRR of going solar is compelling. StraightUp Solar Tribe members are already driving guilt-free for 2₵/mile and to help spread the word, SUS will offer a free Level 2 Schneider Electric EV charger with each 3+ kW Illinois and 5+ kW Missouri residential solar sale through 1 April. What are you waiting for?
