Electric vehicles are environmentally friendly, but solar-powered electric cars are even more so.
Many electric car owners have been charging their vehicles with solar power at home for years, but solar-powered charging from afar is more complicated.
Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, stated many years ago that all Tesla Superchargers would be solar-powered — but we are still far from that goal. Electrify America, the fast charging network Volkswagen was ordered to construct, now offers solar-powered EV fast charging.
Construction of the Solar Glow 1
Electrify America recently announced that construction on “Solar Glow 1” has begun. Solar Glow 1 is based in California, like many other cleantech projects and innovations.
It’s a 75-megawatt solar power project in California’s San Bernardino County. Solar Glow 1 will produce 225,000 megawatt-hours of clean electricity annually.
“Solar Glow™ 1 is the result of a 15-year virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA) with developer Terra-Gen,” according to Electrify America.
The groundbreaking of Solar Glow 1 is an important step towards additional annual renewable energy generation comparable to the energy used by over 20,000 American homes annually
Jigar Shah, Head of Electrify America’s Energy Services stated on Solar Glow 1
Electrify America has always been focused on driving sustainability forward, which extends beyond electric vehicles and charging and into the energy needed to power the EV revolution,
Our customers can feel proud that every charge they make on our network is backed by 100% renewable energy. Today’s groundbreaking of Solar Glow 1 showcases our future and represents our company’s values
Rob Barrosa, Vice President of technology of Electrify America stated on Solar Glow 1
Issues in station accuracy
Electrify America is having some issues with station accuracy in some areas. Still, you can count on a constant supply of clean, renewable electricity for your electric vehicle.
It obtains 100% of its electricity directly or indirectly from renewable energy sources.
So, whereas Tesla drivers can benefit from more plentiful, dependable, and accessible superfast charging, the Tesla network falls short of the Electrify America network in that the latter is 100% clean, whereas the former is not.
Electrify America is operating to get more of its electricity from particular solar projects it funds, such as Solar Glow 1. I assume the “1” is added because there will be a Solar Glow 2, Solar Glow 3, Solar Glow 4, and so on.
Electrify America to add more EV fast-charging points
Electrify America is also continuously adding new EV fast-charging stations.
They also started offering Plug&Charge capability a few years ago so that EV drivers could easily plug their EV into an Electrify America station, and it would begin charging the car.
There have been some issues with this convenient charging feature with some EVs. Still, the company is constantly improving, and this should mainly work for EVs with the inherent capability assembled into their internal charging technology.
Moreover, to all of the great work Electrify America is doing to reduce emissions, give clean electric-car charging, and improve the convenience and reliability of EV long drives, it is also handing back to communities in California (the heart of the US electric vehicle world).
The company has “invested over $5.7 million in more than 10 California community-based organizations to support EV education and access to low-income and disadvantaged communities, in addition to more than $13.5 million in educational marketing in the state to date.”
