VIDEO: Zerocarbonista wind-powered car still being invented
It's been a little more than a year since we first started tracking the development of the wind-powered car by Ecotricity founder, Dale Vince. His latest video installment, part 9 of 6 (not a typo), is now available and in it, we catch up on all the latest news and are even assured that the completion of the vehicle is within sight. The former Lotus Exige is in the process of re-assembly and not only is the front end now complete, but the big battery box has also been bonded in. Right, so what's holding things up? Well, one of the project engineers is in the process of inventing the new technology necessary to make it all work once it's put together and they're discovering it's difficult to manage the rate at which such invention transpires. As Ian, the project manager states, "I can't go and beat him with a stick and say, 'You must have it done,' because it just won't work". Indeed, it probably wouldn't.
Fret not though, at the end of this episode, that includes a fascinating trip to Leeds University, Vince assures us that, "I'm confident we'll have the car running in a couple of months." We sure hope he does and we'll be here waiting to show it to you. Hit the jump for another installment of wind car inventing action.
[Source: Zerocarbonista]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John Pelletier 5:12PM (5/31/2009)
great they come to leeds and do work here and i never know about it :P i always miss the fun stuff
oh well, looks good though more power to them (no pun intended, seriously)
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Kalle 5:17PM (5/31/2009)
A bit off-topic perhaps but I couldn't help be reminded about a boat I saw in Guernsey. It's basically a boat with a huge windmill rather than sails.
Here's a link with some info, not sure if this is the one I saw in Guernsey but you get the idea. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/02/windmill_sailbo.php
Creative idea, isn't it?
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Nick P. 5:53PM (5/31/2009)
There is already enough technical difficulty creating new products made of *existing* technology. For example, the Tesla Roadster is an AC Propulsion T-Zero with a Lotus chassis and the Apple Mac is a much better Xerox Alto.
Doing fundamental research "as you go" is just plain crazy. The only upside is that you can raise more R&D money from NSF and NRC (Canadian Research Council) like Ballard did wit their fuel cell technology.
If they really wants to help, they should do like Tesla and license the AC Propulsion drive train. Then, they could innovate in chassis design, ergonomics and electronic integration.
- Nick -
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Domenick Yoney 1:16AM (6/01/2009)
Tesla doesn't use the AC Propulsion drivetrain. The ACP motor controller is analog while Tesla developed its own digital version. The only technology Tesla licenses from ACP is its reductive charging patent.
jharlan 6:40PM (5/31/2009)
I suspect these guys keep running into the laws of physics. That's a tough one to get around. It has a perpetual motion ring to it typical of scams.
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Snoopy 10:25PM (5/31/2009)
What on earth could you possibly be talking about. They're having an issue with the battery management system, not some hair-brained perpetual motion scheme. It's a hardware and software issue that they'll figure out when they figure it out.
harlanx6 8:24AM (6/01/2009)
I guess that one went right over your head Snoopy. I'm not surprised. I'll bet nearly everyone else got it the message. You can't get energy from nothing, Snoopy.
Snoopy 4:52PM (6/25/2009)
harlan.
First of all, please stick to one username! Why do you need more than one?
I guess the reality of what this car is went right over your head. I'm not surprised. I'll bet nearly everyone else got it the message. It's an EV. They call it a wind powered car because Dale Vince will be charging it solely off of wind power from his company.
But I guess that went right over my head. :p
Chris M 7:16PM (5/31/2009)
Weren't these the folks that a few months ago were putting down Tesla Motors, and bragging how great they were? Now it seems they got hit with a bit of humility, and are finding it is more of a challenge than they originally anticipated.
Still, there is a big difference between doing a "one off" car for a wealthy patron, and making a company to mass produce cars.
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Snoopy 10:32PM (5/31/2009)
I've been following since about episode 5 of 6 and the progress has been quite interesting. One thing they've also been doing quite well, in contrast with many of the companies that are announcing products that are supposed to eventually be for sale, is that they are updating with fresh information rather consistently.
Hype maintenance or not, they're showing real progress, and that's pretty impressive. We may not (or may, who knows – check the comments at the bottom of the post http://zerocarbonista.com/2009/04/01/the-wind-car-episode-7-of-6/#comments) see any production models come from this, but the technology and designs they make could be very useful in the future.
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polo 11:16PM (5/31/2009)
I haven't followed this at all...are they working on a car anyone can just get in and have it drive...powered purely by air?
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Chris M 2:39AM (6/01/2009)
No, they are designing an electric car, and plan to recharge it using electricity from windmills - and no, the windmills are NOT mounted on the car!
To recap, they are using windmills on towers to generate electricity, using that energy to recharge their electric car.
sac 1:24AM (6/01/2009)
I've watched all 9 episodes and I think this is really cool. However, I must admit I don't understand what makes this electric car any more of a 'wind powered car' than any other. Couldn't you just as easily charge a Tesla from the wind as this car? What novel electronic gizmo makes this car better a getting power from the wind than any other? Seems like pure hype to me...
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CaramelZappa 1:29AM (6/01/2009)
It's been proven time and time again that this wouldn't work. Whatever energy they can gather from the wind also creates drag. Even if they could gather energy at 100% efficiency they would need all of that power to make up for the drag it's creating. It's a gimmick to suck money out of gullible investors. If it did work, then it would be a perpetual motion machine, and anyone who's looked into the topic shoul dknow it's not possible.
CaramelZappa 2:00AM (6/01/2009)
My mistake, I was led to believe they thought it was going to be powered from a wind turbine on the car or something. But really it's just a higher end electric conversion. It seems the only thing that makes it wind powered is their own wind turbine, so it's really just a normal electric car. Misleading of them to call it wind powered.
okreally 4:25AM (6/01/2009)
I don't think it's misleading to call it a wind powered car. I think the point there trying to make is that it's all well and good having millions of electric cars but if they are all being charged from dirty coal then it's not going to help. It's a way of promoting their electricity firm (and the need for more renewable energy sources) whilst also satisfying the MD's need for speed.
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Jason Guiditta 2:06PM (6/25/2009)
@CaramelZappa:
So you can't actually power the car with a wind turbine due to drag being equal or greater to power generated, but what about using that wind to charge the battery as you drive instead? You could use a low resistance on the turbine but still generate energy -not enough to run the car, surely, but maybe enough to extend the range? I am no physics expert, just an idea.
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