Karl on Cars

This has been a busy week in terms the energy problem and how to solve it. First, we just published a story about the Sustainable Mobility Summit recently held at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. This was a meeting of the green energy movement, and like any good summit a variety of interesting ideas were floated (Volkswagen's army of microscopic car builders was certainly a new twist on the issue). Then there was the Joint Statement from Rick Wagoner, Tom LaSorda and Alan Mulally regarding their meeting with President Bush. To risk oversimplifying their statement, they essentially told the President that the energy solution relies on a more robust E85 and Biofuel infrastructure. Then you had Al Gore telling congress that global warming represents a Planetary Emergency.

While both the severity of the situation and the solutions to the problem could be argued until the next Sopranos' season starts (Oh, wait! That's actually pretty soon these days!), I've got a relatively cheap and highly realistic solution I'd love to see all these forces rally behind.

In my estimation the major stumbling blocks continue to be infrastructure, cost and real-world functionality. I've said for years there is no "silver bullet" to the energy solution, meaning no one thing will solve the problem. But I have come to support the idea of combining solar energy and plug-in hybrids as the most realistic, and widely applicable, answer. Put simply, if a vehicle like the Chevrolet Volt (or even the modified, plug-in Prius) could be created on a large-scale level you'd be able to meet the majority of Americans' transportation needs using nothing but electricity. And if you have solar panels on the majority of American roofs than that electricity is coming from a renewable, non-polluting source.

And the beauty of a plug-in hybrid is that it's a highly functional vehicle without the limitations of a purely electric car. It drives 40-plus miles on battery power, and then if you need more it switches on an internal combustion engine that can provide another 200-plus miles. The 40-mile range would cover nearly everyone's daily needs, and plugging in at night would recharge it (for free, from the sun). One the weekend, when you want to visit grandma or go on a vacation you still have the 250-plus range at the ready, so no need for a second vehicle (thus avoiding the Prius-daily-driver/Escalade-weekend-warrior situation).

Yes, people who tow things and haul things and build things probably would need a large truck with a powerful engine (hey, maybe a biodiesel), but think about yourself and your friends and consider how many people you know that the above situation would work for. I don't have any figures on what it would cost to put solar panels on every American's roof, but I have researched the concept for myself and the price looks to be between $10,000 and $20,000 depending on your energy needs. That's not cheap, but with enough government support (whether in tax breaks or outright funding) I'm betting you could cut that figure dramatically. I'm probably going to go solar soon just to avoid the mini-bar prices that California charges for electricity. According to my calculations it will take about 10 years for the system to pay for itself.

With luck I'll have a plug-in hybrid to drive by then, further cutting my energy costs -- not to mention my carbon footprint, right Mr. Gore?

But maybe I'm living in a dream world. Happy to hear if anyone has a better idea.