Electric cars existed over 100 years ago. Yes! That’s right, there were electric cars over a century ago (which many people probably haven’t heard about).
In addition, there was at least one Baker electric car with a 10,000 cell solar panel on the roof which was used to charge the battery way back in 1960. 56 years ago people had enough foresight to add a solar panel to the vehicle to charge the battery system. That’s over half a century ago. We had a solar-powered car over half a century ago!
The solar panel on the Baker was capable of charging the car’s batteries in about 8-10 hours (extremely fast for 56 years ago), for 1 hour of drive time at 20MPH. Amazing! Solar-powered cars! Cars that run on sunlight! Let that sink in. Take all the time you need.
Baker Motor Vehicle Company was an American manufacturer of Brass Era electric automobiles in Cleveland, Ohio, from 1899 to 1914. The first Baker vehicle was a two seater with a selling price of US$850. One was sold to Thomas Edison as his first car.[1] Edison also designed the nickel-iron batteries used in some Baker electrics. These batteries have extremely long lives with some still in use today. The model range was expanded in 1904 to two vehicles, both two-seaters with armored wood-frames, centrally-located electric motors, and 12-cell batteries. The Runabout had 0.75 hp (0.6 kW) and weighed 650 lb (295 kg). The Stanhope cost US$1,600, weighed 950 lb (431 kg), had 1.75 hp (1.3 kW) and three-speed transmission. It was capable of 14 mph (23 km/h). In 1906 Baker made 800 cars, making them the largest electric vehicle maker in the world at the time. ~ Wikipedia – Baker Motor Vehicle
The Washington Post, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Now imagine if we had kept using solar energy back then. All our cars would be electric. All our cars would be powered by the sun. Transportation, communication, and manufacturing. Our homes, appliances, cars, personal devices, computers, and mechanical equipment would probably all be powered by clean electrical energy generated from the sun. Solar panels would probably be 1000% as efficient as they are now and the earth would not have been decimated by fossil fuels.
This shows what was possible over a century ago. Today our technology is far superior, more efficient, and capable of much, much more. The potential for unlimited clean energy and environmentally-friendly vehicles is vast and far-reaching. The growth of the solar power industry is nearly unlimited.
Shouldn’t all cars should be powered by the sun? I mean… Our planet is. The whole solar system is. So why not everything else?
We have the ability. We have the technology. We have the drive.
So what are we waiting for?
Let’s do it!
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