With major automotive companies, including Ford, Nissan and Chevy set to introduce electric commercial and passenger vehicles this year, we couldn’t be more excited about both the short-term and long-term potential for major carbon reductions.

The cause of our excitement in the short term is that even if these vehicles are getting their electricity from dirty sources, which will be the case for many considering that much of electrical generation is from coal fired power plants, electric vehicles will still be clear winners in terms of a reduced carbon footprint when compared to their internal combustion engine (ICE) cousins.

However, if they receive their charges from renewable sources, such as a house, utility or charging station that is generating solar energy, consumers can then enjoy a dramatically reduced carbon footprint. This is what gets us excited!

At SunPower we envision a future where more of our energy is renewable and electric vehicles are a big step in making one’s commute green. While we understand that electric vehicles getting fuel from non-renewable sources is a little dirty, when homeowners and utilities embrace sources of energy that are abundant and renewable, such as solar, the benefits of having more and more electric vehicles on the streets become exponentially better.

Why shouldn’t our cars get their energy from the same source that has been powering plant life for hundreds of millions of years? After all, in the early stages of the automobile, electric vehicles dominated the market (link). Over time, electrics lost out to ICE automobiles because of the cheap abundance of petroleum, but now with the prices of gasoline unstable, extraction more risky and supplies finite; and with solar and renewable energy more affordable and abundant, why shouldn’t we return to the automobile’s electric origins?

A recent report by Deloitte forecasts that the electric vehicle market will make up only 3.1 percent of total automotive sales in the US (link), but this doesn’t tell the real story of the future of electric vehicles and their potential. We are already hearing about the success of some of our customers who are early adopters. For example, read the following testimonial of one of SunPower’s satisfied customers Tom Moloughney (here is a link toTom’s blog) below.

"My 8.8kwh SunPower solar electric system provides enough electricity to charge my 100% electric MINI-E and still have enough energy production left over to cover most of my home usage, Tom said via email. "lectric cars are the future of transportation and many major automotive manufacturers have electric cars in development right now," continued Tom. “Within a few years you’ll have many choices to buy electric cars and combining one with a home based solar electric system from SunPower will not only save you a lot of money, but allow you to enjoy the benefits of driving a true, 100% zero emission vehicle."