Reader Don Dunklee is doing his part to save the environment and free America from dependence on foreign oil. He's rigged up his EVT-4000E electric scooter to run on solar power:
 |
After construction, there is no cost to operate this small vehicle. No fuel purchased, no pollution, no transfer of pollution by plugging in.I can't wait to see the next version, Don. More power to you.
...Plan is to ride to work and park bike, fold out panels. At end of day, fold panels and drive home. The charging is working flawlessly.
...I use about 20% to 25% of the charge riding to work and back. The math shows that I should seldom have to plug the bike in for charging (option still available during extended cloudy days).
Not a speed demon, however a dependable mode of transportation. I have 1,008 miles on the odometer. This is the first step to building a bit bigger bike based around solar panels for charging.
2 comments:
Fabulous, though I hope he's using Evergreen Solar (ticker: ESLR) cells.
Posted by Comrade_Tovarich
I wonder how much the solar charging cost. I expect he will never break even on the deal, probably not even compared to gasoline powered scooters.
And of course although he isn't creating pollution from his power generation, building solar cells does. It wouldn't suprise me if this set up cause more pollution that if he hadn't done it at all.
I do still applaud this sort of thing though, learning how to do it expensively is a prerequiste for learning how to do it cheaply, both in terms of money and pollution causing activity.
Posted by Dave Justus
Post a Comment