Solar Power CarsSolar power cars are electric cars that are charged by the sun. Yes there are cars powered directly by the sun but you wouldn't want to tool down the highway or even drive to work with one. If you haven't seen one they kind of look like pancakes on wheels. The driver has to lie down they are so flat and safety is not what they are built for. And you definitely wouldn't want to take your family out in one, it would be very cozy!
Solar Powered Car Photo by Paul Ludwig Electric Vehicles or EV's that are charged by the Sun are totally pollution Free! No dirty power plant charging up these babies! And since they run totally on electric power they do not emit any type of pollution, not even noise. And it would only take about three 200 watt solar panels to charge an EV each day. Of course the electric vehicles for sale today are pretty expensive, and by the time you added solar panels to charge your EV you would spend quite a bit of cash.
Solar Charged EV Photo by Earthworm And then there are hybrids, which use both gasoline engines and electric motors. Some hybrids use a gasoline engine to charge batteries that power the electric motor, while some hybrids use the electric motor to give a boost to the gasoline engine when accelerating or passing. Some hybrids,(most hybrids)can only go a relative short distance using the electric motor because they have a limited battery supply.
Plug In Hybrid Photo by Mariordo59 After the first hybrids came out some enterprising individuals added more batteries and a plug to charge the batteries from their home. In this way they could use the "hybrid" as more of a pure EV while using the gasoline engine as a backup only. And soon the hybrid manufacturers caught on and began offering their own plug-in hybrids. Of course I'm sure they are much more expensive!
Honda CRX EV Conversion Photo by Richard Kelly
But there is an alternative.
You can build your own EV
or have one built for you. The easiest way to build your own EV is to convert a gasoline or diesel engine car. It is not real difficult or complicated even if you are not mechanically inclined. You would buy a used car with a bad engine or one with no engine. You would then replace the gasoline engine with an electric motor.
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