By the way, that was a good interview, but I have trouble getting past the idea that Tesla has already "stole" much of Vince's thunder. His viewpoints would have seemed more fresh a few years ago.
Yeah, you're totally right. I'm not sure I much see the point of his exercise. But I have no problem with him doing it. I just wish they gave more technical details that I would find interesting. What I'm struck by in the video is that, given what he is doing, he doesn't seem that knowledgeable about what's going on in the world of EVs.
He makes a point of taking a few jabs at Tesla. He mentions that a Tesla PR guy (it was Darryl) left a note on his blog that he should just buy a Roadster. Dale said he wanted a test drive, but that the PR guy never responded. This is at least the third time I've seen him relate that story (in print or in a video). Perhaps someone from Tesla should follow up with him.
He says that the Wind Car will have better handling than the Exige. I find that hard to imagine.
He also said he was talking to Lotus about the electric Elise idea but then Tesla came along. More sour grapes perhaps... I guess he has been working on this idea for a while, and then Tesla jumped in and ran with it more quickly than he was.
Anyways, the guy seems to have done quite well by himself selling wind generators as a good business, and I hope he has fun with his car project, regardless of what anyone else is doing.
Dale Vince, co-founder of site operator Ecotricity, elaborated: "The bolt failure was the effect not the cause of the problem. They have ruled out bolt fatigue and design problems, and we know that they were properly put on."
This will come as a terrible blow to ufologists, who were pretty well convinced ET was to blame or, failing that, a superultrasecret stealth drone project. Vince said: "To be honest I'm not surprised. But there was part of me that did hope it was a UFO as it was a lovely story.
"My favourite theory was that some alien race was trying to steal our turbine technology. They crossed galaxies to get here and when they arrive all they want is our wind technology. Wind power may be the holy grail of energy on Earth but not for stellar space travel."
We’ve just had the interim report from ENERCON, the manufacturer of our wind turbines, and they say that they found ‘classic signs of fatigue failure’ in the ring of about 30 bolts, that usually hold the blades on.
Interestingly though they’ve ruled out material or other defect in the bolts themselves, judging that the bolt fatigue is more likely ‘effect’ than ’cause’ of the blade loss.
So it fell apart on it's own. That's a tad concerning. Good thing no one was around.
The gist of this installment is basically that they have a lot more to do, actually had to redo some stuff, and are maybe just now at the half way point. It's disappointing in that is doesn't show any progress or at even talk about anything interesting. Just several shots of a CNC machining some aluminum. Again I'd prefer they talked more about the drivetrain.
The first thing I should say here is that this isn’t the last episode of our little video series – it can’t be - we just haven’t finished yet. So expect Episodes 7 and probably 8 of 6 before long…
That was clear from part 4, when he first said it would be 6 parts.
Quote:
Second thing to say is I’ve got a new idea for a name. I’m quite taken with it.
The Mojo.
I actually think this is a good name for a product from an eccentric Brit. Oh behave....
The video this time actually has a little more substance. There finally are some reasonable shots of a few drivetrain components. Unfortunately they don't bother to discuss them. Instead, most of the video is spent talking about hydrogen fuel cells, responding to that controversial Top Gear episode.
Back in the Part 1 video, at one point there was a CAD drawing on a computer screen in the background that led me to believe they are using a belt drive. I've since been unable to find that shot (I think it's now intentionally blurred out). Anyway, this latest video shows the belts. We also see that they're using UQM brushless motors.
One detail on Dale's blog:
Quote:
It seems that the motors arrived quite a bit bigger than the manufacturers spec and we’re having to adjust the transmission to fit them in (that’s a euphemism BTW… :) ). That’s been the main hold up anyhow.
I think that likely means they have to make a few design changes and remachine the transmission.
Last edited by doug; 02-18-2009 at 12:29 PM..
Reason: typo
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