From a fleet of Siena minivans circling a solar farm at a cutting-edge Memphis dealership to 10 traffic-filled days visiting dozens of California dealerships and manufacturers, Ryan Ferrero hit the road this summer to bring you the latest solar news for the automotive industry.
Chuck Hutton Toyota, owned by YK Auto Group, is being transformed into a model of sustainability for the future with solar power, EV chargers, and even grass-mowing sheep. In total, the company expects about $298,000 in savings and new revenue annually. The dealership is set to run almost entirely on solar power thanks to the solar farm built on a spare lot.
“At the end of the day, all this stuff is going to eventually make money,” said owner Young Kim. “Right now, we can focus on reinvesting, keep giving back to the environment, and giving back to the community. … If you do that, everything else follows.“
After joining Toyota Motor North America leadership for the unveiling of the sustainability features at Chuck Hutton Toyota, Ryan Ferrero hit the road in California to visit dealerships, manufacturers, and partners across California. Here are a few highlighted projects:
This Toyota Orange showroom has a lot to SHOW…just about half their electricity now comes from their 316 high efficiency bifacial panels. Cranking out the GreenHouse Gas Equivalent of the electricity consumed by 21 homes and NOT burning 192k pounds of coal, every single year!
Toyota San Luis Obispo installed 160 Bifacial Panels, the GreenHouse Gas Equivalent of 10 homes, or planting 1,398 Trees EVERY Year.
Toyota Santa Maria is powered by 214 Bifacial panels, the GreenHouse Gas Equivalent of electricity consumption of 13 homes or 123,000 pounds of coal NOT burned, and that’s every year. New, forward thinking and inviting atmosphere, coffee shop, rooftop lounge, all powered by Freedom Solar.
Santa Margarita Toyota installed a whopping 1,368 high efficiency panels, paired with onsite battery storage. This L.A. Regional store delivers with a financial impact covering 100% average annual offset and an environmental impact equivalent to half a million pounds of coal NOT burned or 552 acres of U.S. forests, every single year.
Publicly-held Group 1 Auto Group owns this classy Toyota experience outside of Sacramento, powered by 384 Bifacial panels, the GreenHouse Gas Equivalent of planting over 3,000 trees or NOT taking 75 cross country flights, every single year.
With a whopping 1,164 panels, publicly-held Group 1 Auto Group knew what they were doing…powering up with solar takes $2.1M away from the Utility company and puts it right into their coffer. Well played.
Surfing was the big ‘S’ in Ventura, now it’s S for Solar…Ventura Toyota adorned with a very powerful system of 1,026 premium panels, now boasts every year an environmental impact equivalent of planting over 7,000 trees or NOT taking 173 Cross Country Flights. Way to rip the gnar gnar Ventura Toyota!
California has the highest utility costs in the nation, meaning the highest value for commercial solar. Ryan has completed the analyses for about half of all 1,600 California franchised dealerships. Contact him to get your numbers with shovel-ready proposals, scrubbed for each store’s eligible incentives.
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