Dale Vince of Ecotricity has posted some musings and video on his Zerocarbonista blog about the progress his team have made with his wind-power Exige we we're telling you about a few months back and things seem to be coming along quite nicely. His team seems to be more than up for the challenge of turning the gas-powered Lotus Exige into an electric vehicle capable of doing 0 to 60 mph in less than four seconds. Of course, the Exige could already meet their top end goal of exceeding 100 mph but doing that with an electric car can be challenging. Like the Tesla Roadster their prototype will unavoidably be compared to, it won't make use of a transmission. Unlike the Roadster, they will also forgo a rear differential by using a separate electric motor for each rear wheel. The motors can spin at speeds of up to 8,000 RPM so their engineer has each one going through a reduction gear that will turn a lot of that speed into
power
torque. Using the final 2,000 RPM figure to estimate the top speed, our in-house math wizard has calculated this baby could do 148 mph, give or take 10 mph. Probably take. Hit the jump for more.
*Update: Video now after the break!
[Source: Zerocarbonista via Smartplanet]
The "wind car" will store its energy in 96 Kokam lithium polymer batteries in a pack tucked behind the seats. Because of their chemistry they will not need a lot of the monitoring wizardry the Tesla battery pack requires though it remains to be seen just how well the Kokams will perform in the enclosed and potentially hot space just ahead of the motors. If you're curious about what batteries and motors and such look like once installed in the car, you will be pleased to know that the rear deck lid is to be transparent. There were no estimates of range given so we'll just have to wait and see how far it can go, or for that matter, if it can go at all. We won't have to wait long though. The team hopes to have the car rolling some time in October. Though it is a one-off, Mr.Vince mentions that he would like to put out a limited edition of about 20 once the design proves itself worthy. In the mean time, he needs a name for this new contender and is seeking suggestions from the general public. Check out all the details and leave your naming ideas at Zerocarbonista (oh, and tell us in the comments, too). Thanks to Adam V. for the Tip!
*Update: Video now after the break!
[Source: Zerocarbonista via Smartplanet]
The "wind car" will store its energy in 96 Kokam lithium polymer batteries in a pack tucked behind the seats. Because of their chemistry they will not need a lot of the monitoring wizardry the Tesla battery pack requires though it remains to be seen just how well the Kokams will perform in the enclosed and potentially hot space just ahead of the motors. If you're curious about what batteries and motors and such look like once installed in the car, you will be pleased to know that the rear deck lid is to be transparent. There were no estimates of range given so we'll just have to wait and see how far it can go, or for that matter, if it can go at all. We won't have to wait long though. The team hopes to have the car rolling some time in October. Though it is a one-off, Mr.Vince mentions that he would like to put out a limited edition of about 20 once the design proves itself worthy. In the mean time, he needs a name for this new contender and is seeking suggestions from the general public. Check out all the details and leave your naming ideas at Zerocarbonista (oh, and tell us in the comments, too). Thanks to Adam V. for the Tip!
The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Sign in to post
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Continue