330BHP Wind Powered Car

[Chuckun]

330BHP Wind Powered Car

 

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It looks flash, goes faster than a V12 Ferrari, but this is no ordinary gas-guzzling sports car says its creator, Dale Vince.

 

Nearly two years in the making at a cost of around $1.6 million, the Nemesis is an electric car powered by wind energy.

 

That's a lot of time and money to invest in one car but Vince, CEO of UK clean energy company Ecotricity, thinks it's all worthwhile if it helps raise awareness of alternative energy.

 

"We call our car a wind-powered car because we think it's important not to lose sight in the debate. We all need to switch to electric vehicles, but that energy has to come from somewhere," Vince said.

 

Borrowing the chassis of a Lotus Exige, the Nemesis is powered by two 125 kilowatt motors which produce 330 brake horsepower. The lithium polymer battery can be recharged in less than two hours and will run for 100-150 miles before it runs out.

 

UK drivers alone clock up 150 billion miles every year, Vince says, burning 25 million tons of oil in the process.

 

"If we all had electric cars we could do that with 10,000 of today's windmills or 5,000 of tomorrows because they double in size every few years," he said.

 

Vince hasn't stopped at cars. An electric tractor is in development and he entered an electric bike at this year's Isle of Man TT Zero Race.

 

"Motor sport generally is a place of drama and excitement and if we can demonstrate green technologies there, we can show that actually living a more sustainable life isn't about giving something up you can still have fun but we can just do it cleanly," he said.

 

Vince's passion for renewable energy dates back to 1991, when he was traveling around in a clapped-out bus and living in a trailer pursuing what he describes as "an alternative way of life."

 

Back then he was unemployed. Today, he employs nearly 200 staff and provides clean power for over 50,000 UK customers.

His transformation from traveler to green tycoon started on a hill outside the town of Stroud in Gloucestershire where he built his first windmill to power his trailer.

 

He did everything himself from digging the foundation hole to fighting protracted battles with power grid companies and planners. The experience, he says, served as a blueprint for what became Ecotricity, which eventually launched in 1995.

 

Sixteen years on, Vince operates 52 turbines at locations all over the UK, with dozens more being built or in the pipeline.

 

Vince never doubted that the company would be a success, but the scale of it has surprised him.

 

When he started out he hadn't thought that he would be supplying other people with their electricity.

 

"I just wanted to make big windmills. I used to simply sit around at night and say, why don't they build windmills to make electricity?" he said.

 

"And it dawned on me, who are 'they?' Why not me, why don't I do it? So I did."

 

Source: CNN

[G!NG3R420]

Hrm, 100-150miles before it runs out. Where does the wind energy come in at?

[Chuckun]

It's the first electrically powered vehicle to be charged by a wind turbine.. So ultimately this guy has just created what already exists, only with the intent of charging via totally sustainable energy sources.. Such as wind.

 

The current electronic cars are NOT environmentally friendly AT ALL. It's a load of horse shit.. You charge them up using the mains.. how is that any different to burning diesel/petrol? But this one is genuinely eco friendly.. Basically all that's different is the adapter I guess but this is just one car, not in production, actually using sustainable resources..

 

I'm just blown away by the 330BHP!

[thundercunt]

Not impressed at all.... so you can plug it in to a windmill big deal.

 

Here is my idea. You need a dual shaft electric motor with a generator on one end, and a transmission on the other. Then have some capacitors hooked to 3 banks of batteries. You would need a computer to control it but once you charge it up that's it. When one bank of batteries gets low the computer switches to the next bank and the gen re-charges the depleted bank.

 

Idk I may just be high but you would think that the car companies could use a little engineering to come up with something new instead of just saying "lets hook it to a windmill".

[Chuckun]

Not impressed at all.... so you can plug it in to a windmill big deal.

 

Here is my idea. You need a dual shaft electric motor with a generator on one end, and a transmission on the other. Then have some capacitors hooked to 3 banks of batteries. You would need a computer to control it but once you charge it up that's it. When one bank of batteries gets low the computer switches to the next bank and the gen re-charges the depleted bank.

 

Idk I may just be high but you would think that the car companies could use a little engineering to come up with something new instead of just saying "lets hook it to a windmill".

 

You could not charge a battery with another battery AND power a motor at anything near 100% efficiency... Not even whilst harvesting momentum from the shaft rotation.. If a motor could run at 100% efficiency then *maybe* (but still quite tricky), but as it stands the batteries would drain regardless of any self-charge method. And then you'd have to charge them up using mains electricity, and that's really not eco friendly.. The idea of the turbines is that it's genuinely eco friendly.. Most electronic cars aren't because you have to charge them via the grid.. Which obviously is something we're supposedly doing too much of >.<

[thundercunt]

 

You could not charge a battery with another battery AND power a motor at anything near 100% efficiency... Not even whilst harvesting momentum from the shaft rotation.. If a motor could run at 100% efficiency then *maybe* (but still quite tricky), but as it stands the batteries would drain regardless of any self-charge method. And then you'd have to charge them up using mains electricity, and that's really not eco friendly.. The idea of the turbines is that it's genuinely eco friendly.. Most electronic cars aren't because you have to charge them via the grid.. Which obviously is something we're supposedly doing too much of >.<

 

I didnt say anything about charging a battery from another battery. The generator will constantly be charging the the batteries that are not in use. If one generator on the front shaft of the electric motor isn't enough then put one on all 4 wheels. You would only have to charge the battery banks once off of the grid.

 

Even if its 50% efficient its still better than anything we got now.

[Chuckun]

I agree it's a good idea - and they are already doing that to a degree But ultimately they still all use non-renewable grid electricity to charge