The Nemesis arrived in Stroud this morning, finally… After all the months we’ve spent on it, this is def a bit of a watershed. I’ll have it here for a few weeks of road trials and a general shakedown. Probably for most of August.
The car has come a long way in the last few weeks since the first test drive. The last few days have been especially hectic (for the team, not me). It got its MOT last Friday, had a Tracker fitted yesterday and we taxed it today – you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find insurance… Anyway it’s road legal now. And sat outside my house.
It’s not totally user friendly though. The charging system is the last big thing needing to be finished, the guys are working on that while I road test the car. So recharging is a bit of a manual process, to say the least – balancing the individual cell charges and the like.
And the car has actually only run through one full battery cycle so far, so that side of life is a bit of an unknown still. And it’s not been out in the rain yet…….! We’ve got data sensors and gauges all over the place and one of the things I need to do is to take readings after each run. It’s still a bit of an R&D prototype for sure.
The interior and exterior reflect this – both being a bit rough and ready, good job too (more on that in a minute).
But I’m really looking fwd to just hacking around in it these next few weeks.
Should be fun.
OK time to fess up. I had my first prang in it today. I was coming back home and stuck my foot on the throttle instead of the brake pedal, corrected that but too late to avoid skidding into a hedge…. Ooops.
That’s my first bit of feedback for the team – pedals too close together, especially if you have big feet. It happened to me on the airfield test actually, though nothing came of it with all that space to play with. Of course it’s the standard Lotus pedal layout, minus a clutch pedal, so I reckon we can move the brake pedal leftwards a bit with no trouble.
So there you are. The Wind car is finally here in Stroud, for a few weeks shakedown, and er… I’ve pranged it already… Doh!
Cheers.
PS episode 11 of 6 will be up in a few days.
Lol about the hedge! No significant damage I assume?
Was looking forward to seeing the car today *tuts at the English weather*
Just out of interest, did you have to get a special insurance?
Must be a good feeling seeing a dream come true and sitting there in your own driveway, D.
I’m guessing it’s a near silent and stealthy panther so…
If you spot someone from EDF crossing the road in front of you be sure to toot your hooter and let them know you’re coming.
I wouldnt expect anything other.
I must be honest, i saw this outside the office this morning and thought – wow! the back end looks beautiful, peering through that rear window to see the Technology inside – woah!
looking foward to the pain job, and even more excited about taking out on a test drive –
good work, congratulations!
**Paint – i hope those no pain involved
And I can take delivery of mine when? hehe…
You have to promise me that these will be available in the USA by May 2012. That way I can buy one as a gift to myself for graduating medical school.
How about some driver training? ;0)
http://www.lotusdrivingacademy.com/
It looks brilliant… so good that I’m sure sure whether the paint job shown in the concept pics would be an improvment… I think it looks epic in black!
It’s fantastic to be able to watch this project coming together. I hope that the news and blogs that flood out from this project will not only help Ecotricity and the car, but that it will also ‘prime’ the EV industry itself. Come on Citroen, Toyota, GM (What’s left of you).. we’ve been pussy-footing around this subject for way too long now! The race is on you lot!!
I think the transparent panel on the back is a nice touch too. It’s great to see what makes this car so unique and it separates it from the Lotus a little. Does it also save a few grams on weight? I’m all for discovering new ways to introduce weight savings and improve specs. The beauty of these cars is their simplicity anyway. No exhaust, fuel tank, gearing, head gasket, clutch, cam belt etc.
Enjoy having the window down and the feel of the wind in your hair…. Congratulations Stroudy
i want one ….and a van …. i am interested the charging system…….what sort of economy do you expect from?
you can change your name to Michael Knight; and that bullet proofing should come in useful against EDF.
you can change your name to Michael Knight now; and that bullet proofing should come in useful against EDF.
bum!, I hate it when that happens….
Hehe that made me chuckle!
Though I’m genuinely bewildered… I didn’t think 6am existed on Sundays…
Congrats Dale
Cant wait to see episode 11 of 6. Will turn my volume up to max so i can hear that EV fine tuned motor of yours. Must be a thrill to drive.
Are you thinking of getting it on top gear’s test track once you have ironed out all the teething problems. Hope so….would be a brilliant show special.
regards
nick
‘Oil is running out fast’ !
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/warning-oil-supplies-are-running-out-fast-1766585.html
An interesting read. But don’t you just love the Independent for it’s articles that consistently point out the obvious?!
We’ve had similar warnings for years now but it’s only relatively recently that we’ve actually started doing anything… what everyone needs to get to grips with is the fact that it’s not only the technology for things like electric cars that we need, but the technology to build those electric cars needs to be free from oil too.
We only seem to be on the first tier at the moment.
It’s brilliant we’ve got guys like Dale working on electric cars but we also needs vans, trucks, tractors, planes, ships… otherwise how are we going to transport things like turbine parts?
Flying cows perhaps? ;o)
I thought flying cows had it in for turbines… or was that aliens… I forget
Either way, I don’t think we can count on their support. So me-thinks we’re on our own!
love the project….congratulations on getting in built and working!
in one of the earlier episodes I noticed the car is running on two motors using split axles instead of one motor and a mechanical differential…..presumably it helps to save weight….
is there any chance someone would be able to tell me the make and model of the motors? am quite intrigued to know since both look quite compact and air cooled?
I would like to think they were custom built since I reckon the team there know a thing or two about parts construction and manufacture. Your query answered an earlier query of mine as to whether there was any gearing involved. Since you saw that they are two motors on individual axles then it would seem that the wheels are on the same axles as the motors and therefore regenerative braking should be possible. This is key because any decent long range EV will need regenerative braking to extend the range.
Actually it would be pointless (and expensive) to ‘custom build’ motors when there are excellent EV traction motors, electronics etc. etc. already available on the market.
Regarding regen braking– this is only useful if you are accelerating and deccelerating a lot, for example in City driving, or track racing. And you can do regen braking with just one motor if you wish.
So— anyone up for telling us which model of motor was used? I would be interested myself.
How many miles per Kilowatt Hour are you expecting to get?
Does this now mean we will be seeing you, Dale, on Topgear as a guest driving a reasonably priced car?
Or racing against The Stig? Unless of course you are the Stig…
Dale the Stig..? Heresy!
How about building Eco Boats ? this would also be useful ?
The electricity and water issue would have to be overcome though ;o)
Not a problem. Boats and submarines routinely run on electricity anyway. Eg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_underwater_vehicle
The Germans even have a fuel-cell powered sub, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_212_submarine
Great to see it in the flesh today – cheers dale
Love the carbon cooling trumpets and the clear ‘engine’ cover!
Keep up the good work!
Looking forward to seeing the finished article
nice car..i really love it..
Hi Dale
The car looks great.. Im not sure if you recognise the name from the V5 but this car used to be mine. i’m impressed with the transformation and have followed the progress despite spending the last year in Australia. If you need someone to compare it with how it used to be… Im your man.
looking forward to seeing some more videos.
Patrick McDowall
Very much it would be desirable to learn, and what for the engine at your car?
In detail if it is possible, very interestingly.