We've all witnessed first-hand how in just two decades the internet has digitised industry after industry to deliver an increasingly zero marginal cost society (Marginal cost is the cost of producing an additional unit of a good or service after fixed costs have been absorbed.)
While I don't subscribe to the entire zero marginal cost society thesis, it is a good explanation for the effects that have transformed information industries like media, music & software. The same now applies increasingly to energy. While the fixed costs of the harvesting technologies to generate green electricity are decreasing exponentially, the marginal cost of producing renewable energy is near zero. The sun and the wind are free and only need to be captured and stored.
At a recent shareholder meeting, Elon Musk said Tesla's new solar shingles will cost less than a "normal roof" and the energy would essentially be free. Does this mark the dawn of mass market zero marginal cost mobility? Popular Mechanics recently ran the experiment, powering three electric vehicles with a conventional rooftop PV system. They concluded that buying a rooftop PV system to power your electric vehicle is comparable to prepaying three years worth of gasoline, based on $4/gallon, and never having to pay for it again.
We think the payback time for a retrofitted rooftop PV system can be even shorter! Based on average annual motoring, 15,000 km/year in Australia, a small 1.5 kW PV array (PM used 7.5 kw) could power a typical EV like a Nissan Leaf (114 Wh/km quoted energy consumption) on it's daily commute for 25+ years at an average cost of < $0.004/km.
Eliminating the $240/month a typical household spends on vehicle fuel, a modest rooftop PV system would pay for itself in just 6 months. Ticking the box to have Tesla tiles fitted to your new house eliminates the payback stage altogether. It is effectively a rooftop perpetual fuel pump where the per kilometre cost is zero from day 1.
Combine Tesla's solar shingles and EV powertrain which, irrespective of their "infinite Mile" 8 year warranty, is expected to last well in-excess of a million miles, (true for all EVs) with the ever growing installed base of rooftop PV systems (25% of households in some Australian states) and we could soon see zero marginal cost mobility becoming reality at internet speed, hammering another couple dozen nails in the coffin of ICE cars.
While Fiat Chrysler Automobiles refuses to say how many electric Fiat 500e cars it's sold over the past several years, there are likely more than many people think. We know the number is at least 7,000 from recall notices, for instance. And FCA is continuing with aggressive efforts to sell the little electric three-door hatchback. DON'T MISS... 
Autumn is here, the leaves are changing and as the riding season winds down we continue our annual tradition of discussing what’s new for the Zero Motorcycles lineup of electric motorcycles. This year Zero has a few surprises in store to broaden their bikes' appeal to new riders. There are now 14 configurations of Zero Motorcycles ranging in... 
Which 2017 car set a new record for energy efficiency among passenger vehicles on sale this year? What is Tesla doing on a tiny island way out in the Pacific Ocean? This is our look back at the Week In Reverse—right here at Green Car Reports—for the week ending on Friday, November 25, 2016. First, our apologies for not reviewing our... 
It's been over a year since the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disclosed Volkswagen's use of illegal "defeat device" software in diesel cars to cheat on emissions tests. But VW had another dirty little secret waiting to come to light. That is its recall rate: cars from its Volkswagen and Audi brands have had the highest rate of recalls... 
In the six years since modern electric cars first went on sale in large numbers, the field has matured significantly. There are now several models that offer at least 100 miles of range, and many are widely available to consumers. That includes the Tesla Model S and Model X, starting at about $70,000, as well as several models that are more... 
The combination of Tesla and SolarCity is already promoting its potential synergies, albeit in a location far away from the mainland United States. The island of Ta'u in American Samoa is located more than 4,000 miles from the U.S. West Coast, and typically relies on imported diesel fuel to generate electricity. With no local sources of fossil... 
Today, we compare the 2017 Chevrolet Volt and 2017 Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrids, Mercedes-Benz contemplates the future of diesel cars in the U.S., and nuTonomy plans to test its autonomous Renault Zoe electric car on the streets of Boston. All this and more on Green Car Reports. See how the 2017 Chevrolet Volt and 2017 Toyota Prius Prime... 
The 2017 Ford Focus Electric has been one of last electric cars remaining in the current model year for which we haven't had information. Now Ford has released a few specifications, and a photo of a 2017 Focus Electric window sticker sent by a reader fills in more of the gaps. The good news: after several years with a bottom-of-the-list range of... 
It wasn't even close. When we asked our Twitter followers which electric car they thought would be judged by history as most important thus far, it was a slam-dunk. Fully four out of five survey participants voted for the same vehicle out of the four choices we offered. DON'T MISS: Tesla Model S: Green Car Reports' 2013 Best Car To Buy That car...