Comments on: Nemesis Update

By: Alberto

Alberto — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:57:27 +0000

La idea es muy buena, pero me parece que se ha centrado mucho en el uso de la energia para el movimiento y poco en como generarla. En los videos no se ve de que modo el coche va a generar la electricidad, como seran las turbinas, que capacidad tienen, y estructuralmente no parece que el coche sea del todo eficiente para este proposito. Parece que aun tiene mucho desarrollo por delante, algo logico en un proycto de tal embrgadura, estare atnto a las actualizaciones.

Un saludo

By: Justin Noe

Justin Noe — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:19:19 +0000

Hi Isabella, the Cupcake Chef

I suspect, like many others that the headline “Wind car” has led you to believe this is something other than an electric car. The Nemisis is actually a Lithium-ion battery powered Lotus. An electric car.
What Dale’s company Ecotricity is trying to show us is that should we switch to renewables like wind turbines. We could effectively run our vehicles on wind. It’s an idea rather than a practical reality.

I understand how this leads to much confusion but I believe in what he’s doing is important. Both the car industry and electricity generators are heavily reliant on fossil fuels, both are part of the same problem and unsustainable. Dale’s vision is to replace both and free us from our addiction to burning stuff.

It’s not entirely powered by the wind just yet but soon, with the right policies and a joining of forces, it will be.

By: Isabella, The Cupcake Chef

Isabella, The Cupcake Chef — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:26:16 +0000

I am in awe. I think you should get the Noble Prize for Science. All these silly little electric vehicles that have to plug in for power are using electricity generated mainly by coal here in the US. Not “Green” energy at all.

Now if only the car manufacturers would get off their behinds and make cars like this. All the billions they have spent and you’ve gone farther and greener in one year than they have in 20 years and all those billions.

If you ever do decide to produce the Nemesis, I want to buy one. I’ve dreamed for years about a car like this, except mine was a converted Jeep Wrangler and I design cupcakes not cars

You rock!

I can’t wait for the next update…

By: Aaron

Aaron — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:16:13 +0000

Dale,
Looks like the major hangup with you battery management has to do with the thermal volatility of your batteries. Have you researched Lithium titanate batteries? They are chemically stable, environmentally friendly, and can be charged in as little as ten minutes. These “Nanosafe” batteries are already being used in automotive applications. They are manufactured by the US company Altairnano Inc. I’ve been researching this technology myself to power one of my sportscars. Lithium titanate batteries will not burst into flame, since there’s no carbon in them. Another benefit is that they last for 12-15 years and maintain 85% of their charge capacity after 15,000 charges. With nonvolatile batteries, you may be able to dispense with the laptop while you charge the Nemesis.

By: Chris Brown

Chris Brown — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 09:56:39 +0000

Happy new year Dale.
I’ve just switched to Ecotricity, something I’ve been meaning to do since we built our new ECO house last year! I’m afraid though that we SHOULDN’T be using much electricity due to the nature of the house!
I’ve been following with interest your electric car for some time now, in fact I think I recognise one of the guys working on the project , (Mr. Router). Hope it all works out successfully for you, and look forward to seeing it out on the open road one day. If you pass me I’ll be the one on the recumbent bike waving (hopefully not shaking my fist ‘cos you’ve just cut me up!) Have you ever thought of powering a VELOMOBILE (check out Go-one Evolution on the interweb) by Ecotricity? It would make a brilliant advertising tool for your company. I was a little surprised to learn that “only” 30,000 people had so far switched to Ecotricity, seems the message about the environment STILL hasn’t got through to a lot of people. One more question (honest), what would happen if millions of people decided to switch to Ecotricity?
Good luck. Chris.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:24:52 +0000

I posted on here, wanting to talk to you, but dont know what happened to my comment.
I would like to work for you, if you would be prepared to give me the opportunity.

By: TR

TR — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:35:07 +0000

It’s not a marketing campaign it’s a vaild point that the idea of electric cars is counter productive without having a green source of electricity behind them

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:53:29 +0000

Derek,

Ok, just that your previous comment it was worded as if the Nemesis was the inspiration for the Vectrix, I don’t believe that’s the case.

I do agree with you though, it would be great to see the R&D for the Nemesis go into other applications.

By: Derek

Derek — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 07:48:50 +0000

Ben

I do realise that the scooter is a seperate project to the Nemesis!!!!

Derek

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 19:52:12 +0000

I don’t thing the Hesketh scooter that Dale was referring to has anything to do with the Nemesis. Only that they are bundling ecotricity with the purchase of the scooter.

Hesketh is producing the Vetrix scooter which they revived after the company that created it went into bankruptcy.

By: Chris Blount

Chris Blount — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:43:49 +0000

Good to hear Dale. Or how about this, Ecotricity could offer competitive mortgages/loans for domestic solar panel instillations? (And perhaps even work in a better deal for people who are willing to sell electricity back to the grid?)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8386460.stm

By: Jason Brown

Jason Brown — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:41:08 +0000

Hello Dale,
After reading a few extracts from you blog, I knew that our mindsets are very similar. (I only had to read a few sentences) I would like to introduce myself, my name is Jason Brown and we need to talk business! I’m not greedy I just want to make some money and save the planet at the same time….

I have been working on a business plan which I think (almost know) that you will be very interested in.

I look forward to your reply.

and Thank your for your time

Jason

By: dave

dave — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:51:45 +0000

Dale – have you seen our car? coming together nicely now: http://www.racinggreenendurance.com

By: Derek

Derek — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:07:21 +0000

Dale

Really pleased to hear there will be other cars and a scooter being produced from the Nemesis idea.

To reinforce the comment from Chris I would be only to proud to drive a EV with Ecotricity logos featured on it, like the design on the Nemesis with the green union jack flag. I am sure there would be a crowd of us willing to do that.

Derek

By: Jeffrey Lam

Jeffrey Lam — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:11:47 +0000

I know this is not a production vehicle, but are you going to make any more Nemeses? (And is that how you would spell the plural?) I was under the impression from previous blogs that there would be more than one, even if the number was small.

So when is the Snetterton visit? I’m working at Lotus now so I won’t be far away. (Not working on anything really exciting though unfortunately…)

By: dale Vince

dale Vince — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:40:50 +0000

Hi Dave, I didn’t see the program, but I got the same impression. Handling let it down though for sure.

We won’t have that problem, our car is engineered to outperform the standard Excige, on bends and straight lines.

Don’t know if we’ll let the ‘Top gear boys’ loose in it though – maybe if they ask nice….:) Cheers.

By: dale Vince

dale Vince — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:37:25 +0000

Hi Chris, fear not we’re working on a number of options that might see another incarnation of the Nemesis, possibly make it to production – and the wind powered tractor is still on the drawing board. Thanks for your comments re throwing our weight about into other areas, that’s really good to hear.

There’s an electric scooter coming out soon with several years worth of free ecotricity thrown in (Hesketh is the name) – that’s a step in the direction you’re looking for – and we share your vision – we want to extend our work into a number of other arenas. Energy, transport and food are the targets – we’ve got some ideas cooking up. Cheers.

By: dave

dave — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:20:30 +0000

Jonathan. This issue (‘wind powered car’) has been mentioned / discussed elsewhere on the blog. Have a dig around..
Anyway going back to your original link, the idea of adding a shroud/duct/stator vanes to a wind turbine is not new, and is a good one, but is not practical for large turbines. Only small (if that). Too much extra steel/glass fibre for a marginal gain.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:11:01 +0000

That’s lame. The whole “wind powered car” is just a bs marketing campaign and not a car that can recharge itself while driving thru onboard turbines.

If that is the case, I’ve lost all appeal to this car…it’s just another electric then.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:43:06 +0000

Keep up the good work Dale. I look forward to hearing what stats the BMS produces and also how the battery performance is affected by the cold winters if at all. I’m gutted to hear Ecotricity won’t be launching this car for production. I think a lot of loyal customers would like to see Ecotricity branch out into other industries or perhaps work with existing companies in other industries. I’d like to be able to buy an electric car with a years Ecotricity included. I’d like to be able to buy my food from a supermarket with a ‘Powered by Ecotricity’ badge in the window or travel on an electrified train with a similar attachment. Brands with responsible credentials are not too common and those that exist should throw their weight around more in my opinion.

By: Xena

Xena — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:49:41 +0000

Gotcha! That makes perfect sense )

By: dave

dave — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:46:14 +0000

actually I got the feeling Clarkson quite liked the Tesla when it was on top gear

By: dale Vince

dale Vince — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:28:08 +0000

Hi Xena, my mistake. It’s about being in control of the cells fully, making sure that their temperature and their charge states remain within safe limits. Our crude charging doesn’t allow us sight of this so we run at a much reduced rate – giving a big safety margin. Cheers.

By: Adomas

Adomas — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:10:50 +0000

Sorry, wrong button

By: Adomas

Adomas — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:08:40 +0000

Hi Xena,

The turbines they suggest look more like conventional water or gas turbines. As they indicate, there have been previous attempts of similar designs and they all have failed for one simple reason – efficiency/cost ratio has proved to be worse than that of the conventional open large-scale horizontal-axis turbines.

Even if I’m wrong and their design proves itself as far as efficiency and costs go, it wouldn’t have a track record of performance in a longer time frame and hence be unsuitable for large scale application due to high financial risks.

By: Scooba

Scooba — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:12:11 +0000

Hmmm so when can we expect to see it on Top Gear.

James May or Richard Hammond in an Eco Car, there’s an idea that has intrigue written all over it.

Not so much for Clarkson, I have a feeling he would not understand the concept of a no petrol sports car.

Good Luck get the beast finished.

Scooba

By: Nick Palmer

Nick Palmer — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:32:23 +0000

Hi,
I am definitely not a battery expert, and no doubt you have them working with you, but I feel I just have to say (in case anyone missed it) that, from my limited knowledge, fast charging is usually counter-productive to capacity, there are over-heating issues but, most seriously, ultimate battery longevity can be compromised.

Good luck!

Nick Palmer

Blogspot: “Sustainability and stuff according to Nick Palmer”

By: Xena

Xena — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:45:18 +0000

Pretty interesting concept (if it is a concept that is… perhaps it’s already in production?)
But I’m not an engineer either hehehe

By: paul

paul — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:43:44 +0000

Hmmm… anyone see the Dyson desk fan?

First thing I thought was “Would that work in reverse to generate energy from wind?” but I am not an engineer so left it as a thought…

By: Xena

Xena — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:29:34 +0000

Hello Adomas

May I ask why you think they look like a scam?

I haven’t formed an opinion either way yet, but just interested to hear your opinion )