Will Electric Cars and Solar Power Make Gasoline and Utilities Obsolete?

cartechboy writes "Since the dawn of time (or modern civilization) two things have happened: utility companies have made money by selling us electricity, and oil companies make money by selling us gasoline. But is it possible we are on the verge of upsetting this status quo? Tony Seba, an entrepreneur and lecturer at Standford University, is writing a book in which he essentially predicts electric cars and solar power will make gasoline and utilities obsolete by 2030. How, you might ask? In his book, titled Disrupting Energy: How Silicon Valley Is Making Coal, Nuclear, Oil And Gas Obsolete, he predicts that as people buy electric cars the interest in clean energy will increase because who wouldn't want 'free travel'? Combining the use of solar panels and electric cars, consumers would be able to do just that. The miles electric cars travel on grid energy stored in their batteries eliminates the demand for gasoline, and it turns out many electric-car owners have solar panels on their homes while eliminates or dramatically reduces their dependence on utilities. So as the amount of electric cars on the road increases, the cost of both solar panels electric-car battery packs will decrease, right?"

Comments

Re:Uh?

[MitchDev]

No kidding. They'll tax the hell out of electricity to make up for lost gasoline taxes...nothing is free...
And just how expensive are these cars, and how long do you have to sit and wait for them to recharge?

Re: Uh?

[zerosomething]

Solar in the US will typically pay for itself in 5 years regardless of system size,...

In my 1000 square foot house I spend $1000 a year on electricity. How exactly would I pay for $15K - $20K worth of solar cells in 5 years? I spend about $620 a year on natural gas to heat and cook. I guess I could go all electric, which would cost me another $5 in appliances. At that point I might break even in 15 years, about the time I would need to replace the solar cells. By then they should be cheeper and more efficient. So yea by about 2030 solar would probably take care of my needs. Till then I'm holding out with my dead dino (plankton) power.