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NBC-2 News reported that a smart car charger caused a fire in Estero, FL yesterday causing $200,000 to a home. From the story I gather that the homeowner installed the smart charger himself. While I can’t say if he was qualified or if the fire was caused by installation errors or product failure, it brings an important issue to the forefront – electric car charging is going to bring a whole host of problems for home electrical systems. The problem is that many homes already have fully loaded main distribution panels. Several tandem breakers may be installed to accommodate new circuits for things like lighting,Read More →

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It sounds like a great idea – buy an all-electric vehicle like the Nissan Leaf and get off fossil fuels to save money and the environment. However, many people fail to think about where the electricity comes from! FPL generates about 2/3rds of it’s electricity from Natural Gas. That’s a fossil fuel. In addition, 1/5th comes from nuclear power. So ask yourself – is your electric vehicle really electric, or is it just another fossil fuel vehicle disguised as an eco-friendly alternative? Granted, electric vehicles use less fossil fuel because FPL uses fuels much more efficiently than a typical vehicle’s internal combustion engine could everRead More →

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This article could have easily been called “Why Florida Residents Won’t Drive Solar Electric Cars.” That’s not to say that we won’t one day drive cars with some kind of energy storage (batteries) that is recharged by the sun. It’s just that we won’t be charging the battery using solar power generated on the roof of the car. Theoretically, we should be able to build a battery with adequate capacity that is light and small enough to suit an electric car that meets our expectations, and that’s the direction in which I think we are heading. The problem with solar energy is that it isRead More →