Solar refuelling stations for electric cars

A solar powered recharge point for electric cars has been set up in Chicago to power the city council’s fleet of electric vehicles.

The Solar Plug-in Station was installed by Carbon Day Automotive, and will form part of the city’s bid for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Plans are now afoot to place solar recharge points around the city in an effort to power all the city’s electric cars with zero-emission energy.

Each solar charging station features a giant solar panel in the shape of a tree-like canopy, and an underground battery to store the sun’s energy when the station is not in use.

Components for the charging stations were built by Coulomb Technologies.

Richard Lowenthal, Coulomb Technologies CEO, said: “Solar energy and electric vehicles are an inevitable partnership that is one more step to reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”

Scott Emalfarb, Carbon Day CEO, added: “The day of true plug-in electric vehicles will be here sooner than most people realise and the world needs to be ready to accommodate them.”