PV Gap

Priscilla Said:

Electric power is no panacea, may cost more in the end!?

We Answered:

1) Studies have shown that if EVs are charged at off-peak hours, it will require that few new power plants be built to meed the increased demand.

http://gas2.org/2008/03/14/plug-in-hybri…

2) Recharging an EV currently costs about 3-4 times less than refueling a Prius. So unless gas prices stay constant (they won't) and electric rates increase by a factor of 3-4 (unlikely), refueling an EV will still be cheaper than even the most efficient cars currently available.

3) Battery disposal is not a problem. Most of the battery is recycled and reused already.

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog4/?p=66

4) Even if most of our energy came from coal (as opposed to the ~50% in reality), EVs would still produce lower emissions than gas cars.

http://www.pluginamerica.org/images/Emis…

To answer your final question - no, you cannot power an EV directly with solar without a storage medium like a battery. Nor do you need to.