Columbia University graduate students Garrett Fitzgerald (left) and Rob Van Haaren (right) plan to drive a production EV across the U.S. next summer using only power generated by a unique, rollable solar array. [Photo Courtesy of SolarJourneyUSA.com]

A few months ago we wrote about an inspiring plan by two Columbia University graduate students to drive across the U.S. in a production, highway capable EV powered only by solar-electricity the pair plans to generate via a unique portable solar unit they will trail behind them.

Garrett Fitzgerald and Rob Van Haaren want to drive 3,200, 100-percent solar-charged miles from coast to coast in the summer of 2012.

“To our knowledge, a trip like this where we won’t be using any offset electricity hasn’t been done before,” Fitzgerald told SolarChargedDriving.Com in April.

“We will be completely autonomous in terms of where the electricity comes from – we will never be plugging into the electric grid,” added Van Haaren.

A 100% grid free journey
However, while Fitzgerald and Van Haaren will be 100-percent grid free during their journey, they need your help so that they can embark on their historic trip.

Right now, they’re working hard to raise the money they’ll need to complete the trip. They estimate they’ll need about $20 per mile, or about $64,000 total to do what has to be one of the coolest cross-country road trips we’ve heard about.

We just sauntered over to their donations web page and donated a few dollars to help the pair do what no one has yet done – drive a production electric car across America with electricity generated 100 percent via solar energy.

We’re sure they’d appreciate your help as well. So, if you find their trip inspiring, we hope you’ll consider donating.

If you’d like to learn more about their journey before you donate, you can read about it in a feature story we wrote about Fitzgerald, Van Haaren, and SolarJourney.USACom a few months ago.

To donate to SolarJourneyUSA, go to: http://solarjourneyusa.com/donate.php

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