ALASKA, MI – Bill and Ellen Costantino are combining their Tesla S electric-powered car and solar power to eliminate fossil fuels from their lifestyle as much as possible.

Their hobby farm in Caledonia Township is still connected to the grid, but the couple relies to a large extent on an array of solar panels on the roofs of their house and garage.

Those panels feed a bank of storage batteries in their garage that can re-fuel their car and run most of the appliances in their house. The couple also heats their home with wood and rely on a large vegetable garden for produce.

“This comes from a realization that the whole fossil fuel business is unsustainable,” says Costantino, an engineer who runs a consulting business that advises companies on lean production methods. “This has been a lifelong passion of mine.”

Costantino acknowledges the $85,000 he paid for his 2013 Tesla S (before the $7,500 tax credit) and the $35,000 he has spent on solar collectors and storage batteries isn’t going to produce an immediate payoff.

“I’m the extreme early adopter. I’m a zealot,” says Costantino, who plans to spend another $32,000 on ground-mounted solar panels. “We’ve got to get off of these frickin’ fossil fuels.”

For Costantino, it’s a passion he developed in the early 80s, when he helped develop high-tech window quilts designed to cool and insulate homes. He also spent seven years with Toyota when the Japanese automaker first opened an assembly plant in Tennessee.

Costantino is especially zealous about his Tesla S, a sleek luxury car he bought in January 2013, shortly after it was named “Car of the Year” by Motor Trend magazine. After he ordered the car online, it was delivered to his door.

Developed by California entrepreneur Elon Musk, Tesla Motors has captured the imagination of environmentalists and investors by eschewing automotive traditions such as dealership networks and supplier networks.



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Having spent $20,000 for an extended range battery option on his Tesla S, Costantino says he now has a 265-mile range before he has to recharge the batteries.

Although he recharges the battery at home from the grid or the solar collectors, Costantino said he has no fear about hitting the open road to visit his clients throughout the Midwest.

Tesla has built a string of “supercharging” stations across the U.S. that allow for full recharges in 22 minutes, he said. The car also can use one of the 18,000 regular charging stations that can be found in most U.S. cities, he says.

While the supercharging stations are free to Tesla owners, Costantino says most of the charging stations also offer free recharges. “I’ve only had to pay at two of them,” he says.

At home, Costantino keeps the car plugged into his charging system, which can draw from the grid or his solar collectors. “Eighty percent of the time, I’m charging off the grid,” he says.

Costantino’s solar collectors also feed a bank of 48 large batteries in his garage that are connected to an inverter that powers their home’s appliances. He’s planning to add another set of ground-mounted solar panels to further reduce their reliance on the grid and sell power back to Consumers Energy.

Besides the fuel savings, Costantino is a big fan of the car’s performance.

The big car silently rockets to more than 60 miles per hour in seconds. Take your foot off the accelerator and a regeneration system slows the car while recharging the batteries.

Thanks to its electrical drivetrain, the power is instantaneous when he presses on the accelerator. With direct drive electric motors driving the rear wheels, there’s no transmission needed like on a traditional car.

The car’s handling also is agile because its batteries are incorporated into the car’s floorboards. That results in a low center of gravity and sports car-like handing despite weighing in at 4,700 pounds.

From a technological standpoint, the car is loaded. A large screen on the center console displays all of the vehicle’s functions, including the miles left on the batteries. Maps can be called up on the screen to locate the nearest recharging stations.

Though he loves his Tesla, Costantino also spreads the word about other less expensive electric cars on the market. He passes out copies of literature about other all-electric cars available in the United States.

“There are so many players out there offering full electrics,” he says. “The technology is here.”

Jim Harger covers business for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jharger@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook or Google+.