One Guy’s Experience with Electric Vehicles and a Rooftop PV Array
Here’s an article I just got from a friend in Central Pennsylvania, Brian McGowan, whom I dub “the ultimate clean energy DIYer”; I always look forward to pics of his garage, with stacks of batteries and assorted electronics that make it resemble a utility substation.
The piece was written by a guy who sounds a lot like Brian himself, who installed a 7.4 KW solar PV array on his roof in an attempt to power three electric vehicles. Since one of the three is a Tesla Model X P90D, we can see that he’s in trouble right off the bat. He notes: Over nine days with the Model X, I cover 704.8 miles, using 281.4 kwh. That’s a whole lot of driving in a big, luxurious, all-wheel-drive SUV doing 75 mph with the air conditioning on blast—a worst-case scenario for EV energy use. When I take the Model X on an interstate road trip and log 247.5 miles, I burn through 95 kwh of energy. I’d need twice as many solar panels to even get close to producing that much energy from a day of sunlight.
Fortunately, most of the miles he travels are accomplished with his GEM (low-speed EV) and his Mitsubishi i-miEV (America’s most affordable highway speed EV, at just under $23K). Because the GEM has no doors, he can hear people calling out to him, “Man, that’s cool!” Indeed it is, if only because here’s a guy who will never use another drop of gasoline.
For his luxury EV, he largely depends on public changing stations, including Tesla’s 400-volt charges on the interstate highways, which provide 296 miles of range per hour.
It’s a really well-written article that I know you’ll enjoy.
Craig,
Thank you for a terrific article by a very positive EV enthusiast.
It’s true, as Brian points out, to get the best value for an EV, you need to own a home in the right location with sufficient roof space for a pretty substantial solar System.
Yet, EV’s are still at a transitional stage, both in terms of affordable models and technology. Hopefully, the next 20 years will see enormous and radical developments in ESD and Solar technology. As mass adoption increases more affordable models will appear.
In the meantime, congratulations to Brian for documenting his interesting experience as an EV owner. (and his courage in driving a GEM in suburban traffic:).
Well done !