Gene Coan does not worry about the price of gasoline, nor is he concerned with his gas and electric bill. Gene powers his home and car with solar photovoltaics (PV) and also uses solar hot water heating. With his Zenn electric-vehicle (EV) Gene rides on sunlight. Fleets are using solar car ports. VW and Mitsubishi are demonstrating electric vehicles with solar roofs.
Each day, over one thousand people ride on three hydrogen fuel cell buses in Oakland and in environmentally conscious Berkeley. By 2012, five thousand people daily will be riding on twelve such buses. The only emission is water vapor. The electricity to power the reformation and the compression of the hydrogen gas is from solar power.
At the recent Alternative Fuels and Vehicles Institute (AVFi) National Conference, major utilities were there with exciting presentations and demonstrations. Major California utilities included Sempra Energy (SRE), Southern California Edison (EIX), and PG&E (PCG). Major automotive and truck manufacturers showed their latest alt-fuel vehicles. Globally there are over 30 million electric vehicles and over 5 million natural gas vehicles.Vehicles give utilities added markets for electricity and natural gas, the opportunity to use excess off-peak electricity that is now wasted, and long-term opportunities to capture electricity from vehicles (V2G) when electricity is in peak demand.
Santa Monica now has over 30 battery electric vehicles (BEV). The largest BEVs are Toyota RAVs which are used by inspectors, engineers, and in other city jobs. The city has a variety of light electric vehicles (LEV) including Dymac, Columbia, e-Ride, GEM, and Taylor-Dunn which make ideal utility vehicles for people maintaining parks, the Pier, and Promenade. The city is now planning on adding two Phoenix BEV sport utility trucks: one for the water department and one for the library. The Phoenix trucks have an impressive 130 mile range. Santa Monica will trickle recharge each night at 220 volts, rather than use Phoenix’s fast recharge option.