Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Lotus, UK
VIDEO: Zero Carbonista wind car update
We have been following the efforts of Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, and his attempt to build an electric sports car which he can power from the wind. Like several other efforts, a Lotus (in this case, an Exige) is being used as the underlying platform. Also like others, his project is taking a little longer than it was meant to but he says they are on course to have something on the road this December.
One of the things extending the build time may have been the decision to lengthen the chassis by 90mm (3.5 inches). While it's not to difficult to stretch the frame, the body work is a different matter and that is where Peter Stevens comes in. The designer of the McLaren F1 is now onboard with the project and will not just leave his fingerprints on the exterior but is also taking care of things like the instrumentation. Hit the jump for the latest chapter of the wind-powered sportscar in all its YouTube glory. You may also want to check out his Zero Carbonista blog for a few more details as well as a bit of Tesla-baiting.
[Source: Zero Carbonista]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Doug 4:03PM (11/20/2008)
Extending the frame, and all the body work involved with that, makes this a much bigger project than before. Didn't they plan to have the car done a month ago? He really should have just bought a Tesla, or perhaps given up on the Exige and used the Europa with it's longer wheel base.
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Domenick Yoney 10:37PM (11/20/2008)
I believe the original targeted timeframe was October so it's not that late yet. I get the feeling that he didn't really want to buy a ready-made car but rather liked the challenge of undertaking this kind of project.
gorr 4:05PM (11/20/2008)
It's a copy of tesla with the same body, stretched body and battery. It's a hypermilling machine that you have to drive slow to get back home and they present that as a sport machine, well not if your far from home. Can't go to vegas with that too on weekend. Can't do real sport too with so much weight and deficient brakes. It's just a deluxe golf cart for green brains that never get red hot in their past. They are tv news watchers, stay far from these new theorisists that sell battery as a mean to have energy.
Batteries are just there to store electrical charge as a back up like the actual ones to start the ice engine. Look at the size of a car battery, almost one cubic feet and 45 pounds just to crank-up the ice 2 seconds 2 times a day. To power a car they use 40 000$ dollars batteries that weight 900 pounds and do between 80 to 180 miles. Batteries are better for portables electronics devise that use 1/1000 the power needed to propel a car.
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nommo 11:36AM (11/23/2008)
Hehe - guys - check out his Zerocabonista blog for the Tesla angle - the VP of sales tried to persuade him to buy one via the blog...
In case you are wondering why everyone is using Lotus for the basis of their EVs - (Tesla, Chrysler, Zap etc) - it is because they make lightweight cars with good handling and have done for decades. I went to their Norfolk factory about 20 years ago as a kid and was impressed by their carbon fibre/kevlar composite body work back then...
This car is based on an Exige - the Tesla being based on an Elise, the Chrysler on a Europa...
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