Tesla’s cars are already branded as the car of the future, and now, they’re promising to depend on the fuel of the future as well. We’re not just talking about electricity — rather, Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently tweeted that he wants Tesla’s Supercharger network (which gives Tesla cars the power they need to transport folks from origin to destination) to run completely on solar power or batteries. That way, they’ll be able to operate independently from the electric grid, which depends largely on natural gas and coal.
All Superchargers are being converted to solar/battery power. Over time, almost all will disconnect from the electricity grid.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 9, 2017
“All Superchargers are being converted to solar/battery power. Over time, almost all will disconnect from the electricity grid,” Musk wrote on Twitter in response to another Twitter user who noted that he could “stand at the Tesla superchargers and see the coal power plant.” He added, “Play the shell game all you want these are coal powered.”
As it stands, American electricity is indeed largely contingent upon nonrenewable resources, most notably natural gas, as per the Washington Post. But Musk certainly isn’t blind for this statistic, and this latest announcement underscores Tesla’s commitment to a greener future. After all, Tesla is on track to double its number of Superchargers by the end of the year.
Electric vehicles themselves are already doing plenty to help the environment. As Electrek pointed out, a recent study noted that the average electric car in the U.S. has the same efficiency as an imaginary 73 mph gas-powered vehicle. That means that electric cars are more environmentally friendly than even the most efficient of gas-powered cars. But nevertheless, Musk wants to ensure that Tesla is reducing its carbon footprint as much as it possibly can.
We should point out that in order for Tesla to power some of its larger Supercharger stations, it would need solar fields the size of football fields. That, for the time being, doesn’t seem like the most tenable solution, but Elon Musk seems to have a way of proving naysayers wrong.
