In addition, she offered advice for students who wish to go into sports, acting, and she gave suggestions on what they can do to help the planet’s ecosystem.
Paul has been driving electric cars since the early 90s. “I have a full electric car and a car that is part electric and part gas. We actually have solar panels that power them, although we don’t have the solar panels on our own roof, because the homeowners association forbid it. We put them on another roof because it doesn’t matter what roof they go on, it all goes into the electric grid and helps reduce pollution,” she said.
She added, “I bought my first electric car in 1990, after a big oil spill in Alaska. I did not want to contribute to oil pollution anymore. That EV (electric vehicle) went 25 miles per charge, and a few years later I bought another EV that went 50 miles per charge, and then in 1996, I leased the EV 1, which went over 100 miles per charge. Now, my husband and I have an electric car that is 12 years old and it gets 90 miles per charge. Our other car is a Chevy Volt, which drives about 40 miles on the battery pack and if I want to go further and have no place to charge up, a gas engine kicks in and will take me another 300 miles.”
Particularly impressive about electric cars is that they are still able to run at night. “Essentially, it is a solar car because it is fueled by the sun through solar panels, but the energy from those panels is stored in the battery,” she said.
Paul was a part of the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? which was a memorable experience. “It started with one guy and his little video camera asking me if I would be interviewed for some movie he was doing on electric cars, and by the end of the filming he had a whole entourage of crew, as investors wanted to support the project. Then, it came out in theaters, which is a rarity for documentaries, so that was a nice surprise,” she said.
For elementary students who wish to help the environment, Paul noted that one way to help is by “eating more plant foods as opposed to meats, dairy and packaged foods, since they have a lot of processing in them. That is much healthier for the environment,” she explained.
In addition to her electric cars, Paul is an avid athlete who partakes in a wide variety of sporting events. “I did the Ironman triathlon in 1997, and I just finished a 13.7 mile ocean swim race in November. It took me 7 hours and 20 minutes to complete,” she said.
For students who wish to go into sports, Paul said, “Anybody can participate in a sport if they train for it. I have never won a sporting event in my life, I have even come in last in a couple long swim races, but it doesn’t matter because it is the training and the adventure that counts. It is consistent training and discipline over time, similar to getting good grades in school.”
Paul is best known to the public for playing Lieutenant Stephanie Holden in the hit 1990s television series, Baywatch. For aspiring actors, she said, “First, it is important to stay in school since there is a lot of reading and memorizing you do as an actor. The more you read, the more people you talk to, the more experiences you have in life, the better an actor you are. The best places to have a full-time career as an actor is in New York City or Los Angeles.”
For more information on Alexandra Paul, check out her official website.
