Video production: Tim Walter Associates Limited
I was in Norfolk earlier this week for a milestone in the development of our wind powered car, the first turning of its wheels…!
While I was there I met with John Vidal the Environment Editor of the Guardian. He’s a great guy John, enjoyed discussing things with him and he really gets the wind powered car thing.
We made this little video with John while we were all there, should be on the Guardian website as you read this.
Meanwhile we still need a name for the car.
Nice idea from Leo recently was ‘the car with no name’ – reminds me of America’s classic hit – Horse with no name.
Kate (my other half) lobbed in the idea of naming it ‘symbol’ – a reference to Prince (just in case… 🙂 All good fun. We still seriously lack a name though, that’s despite the tons of good suggestions that keep coming (thanks to everybody for those). Here’s why:
This is the latest image of what the finished car will look like, pretty awesome I think.
And Mojo was front running for me but looking at this image I’m thinking the car really does need a name that’s a bit tougher’, I just don’t think Mojo will work.
I’m currently resurrecting Nemesis as a front runner. Zephyr is also back in frame.
As always, thoughts are welcome.
Cheers.
BTW – Danny of Danny’s Contentment came and interviewed me a while back and has posted them up on his blog:
My suggestion for the car with no name is “FORCE”
Gale FORCE
FORCE of the wind
Electromotive FORCE
The FORCE as in starwars FORCE os the mystical energy that guides etc.
Brake FORCE
A FORCE to be reconed with
I am an Elise owner (early S1) and also in the wind industry (Fred.Olsen Renewables and ex BWEA) and interested in how this turns out.
I like the mock-up picture, elise/exige S2 front with Evora(esq) rear – very nice.
Good luck Dale, and may the FORCE be with you.
Dale,
As in the picture, what about ‘Zero C’? or ‘Zero’? or ‘C. Zero’?
The car looks – too good for words, I cant wait for my invite for a test drive! :o)
Looking foward to seeing it.
Best of luck!
I liked the 2 videos on Dannys blog. Kept finding myself nodding like a lemming. I’m surprised to hear it should only cost approx. £300k to develope this car. That is lower than I expected. Why aren’t more companies doing it?!
Random question, is there any chance Ecotricity would branch out abroad? Not that I want you to desert Britain or the electric car, but I can’t help wondering if it might in some ways be easier abroad? In America for example, there’s loads more space, lower population density, probably easier planning laws, Obama appears to be pushing for more green industry and jobs. I’m guessing you may get more support from him than from Gordon Brown or David Cameron! Plus the recession may well end there sooner than it will here.
With regards to the name, I quite like Zephyr. It ties back to the wind thing which is important in my mind. However it might force you to actually sell the car with the electricity in some way.
Not sure about Zephyr… how would it handle in complex terrain?
Apogee, but there’s a solar car of that name.
Perigee
Xenon (or something else off the periodic table)
Azimuth
Harmonic
Quasar – my fave
Dale
Great Progress. Have you any marketing ideas for the car as I would like to buy one.
Derek
Really cool project.
Name ? Wind-powered sports car . . How about something along the lines of ‘whirlwind’ ? Sounds better in Spanish (Torbellino) or Italian (Vortice).
Good luck and keep up the excellent work.
Hey
I don’t like Nemesis. It sounds a bit obvious and it just reminds me of the rollercoaster. Zero C sounds awesome. Clean and straight to the point!
Zero C all the way.
Been following this with great interest Dale. It really is a fantastic project.
What about,
Vortex?
Aeolus? (Greek God of the Winds)
Derecho? (A severe windstorm)
Sorry if they’ve all been mentioned before. Nemesis sounds pretty formidable though!
Looks very promising guys keep up the good work.
Zephyr was a rather ugly and boxxy North American car in the 80’s, made by Ford I believe.
How about the ‘Carbon’ or the ‘Footprint’?
Hurricane…I don’t think people will confuse it with the Jeep hurricane 🙂
Blash – Strong blast of wind, sudden beginning of a storm in England
http://www.vikingrune.com/names-of-winds-letter-b/
Something specifically English and has the wind power link? Also the connotation of a new era/time.
Defiant
Skiff,
Hurricane,
Gybe,
Typhoon,
Spinnaker,
Watt,
Joule,
Electrolyte,
Inverter,
Flux,
‘Alternative’ Energy Revolution
http://xkcd.com/556/
What about the “Zeco”
It’s nearly like Zero, has a reference to ecology and economy. It’s short, not too macho and not too soft.
I’m liking Zeco! Perfect.
I had a thought… if you are going to use a weather term, I think you should use one that
1) occurs in the UK or in British waters (before climate change), this would rule out Hurricane, Typhoon, Cyclone, Tornado etc. but Storm, Blash, Gale, Gust (has anyone suggested Gust yet?) are still in
2) ecotricity’s turbines can still operate in (i.e. generate electricity). Can the turbines still operate in a gale? Would seem a bit silly calling the car something like Typhoon, only to find that during a typhoon you can’t charge the batteries on wind power because the turbines are taking a bashing.
Whatever you decide, make it sexy! Gust ain’t doing it for me.
Dunno about names, but can I have one too?
Is this video available on youtube?
Coulomb or Coolomb?
then you could call it avogadro’s car.
Hey Dale.
Just one thing I’d like to point out. Only trendy douchebags wear scarves like that, don’t give yourself a bad image.
Besides that you’re doing a great job and your car is turning out wonderful from what I can tell. Keep up the good work, I can’t wait to see the final version of it.
Hi Dale,
I, too, am quite stunned by how compartatively little this project has cost so far – how have you done it?
Namewise, I like Chris Sheard’s suggestion ‘Vortice’ (pronounced ‘vorti-chay’ I trust?). If you plump foe ‘C Zero’, will people start calling it ‘C 0’, leading to ‘CO’, meaning that it’s replacement would be called ‘CO2’?
Rosa (de los vientos)
// David
Doc Soixanteneuf: VORTICE
Yes indeed ! With the name sounded “Vorti-chay” (it would be pronounced this way in Italian) – this is exactly what I was suggesting.
Hi guys
Mr Dale i am an inventor and i am working on a sustainable power concept, i would like to work with you. plase contact me.
The car is awsome, i really like it.
i would like to suggest this name for your car
ELectroCar
I’ve got a question. Dale says that there are no cars that he would think of as “real electric cars” and certainly no “wind-powered cars”. I thought that what changed an electric car into a wind-powered car in this case was where you plugged it in, and not anything to do with the car itself… can someone tell me what I’ve missed?
How about:
Voltair
Quick search on Google & http://www.ipo.gov.uk suggests not currently in use.
Good work Dale – looks smart.
Suggest Zero-Fighter as a name, though perhaps has some dodgy historic connotations?
Thanks everybody, great bunch of ideas, I’m liking Blash, Defiant, Force and Zeco the most. But still can’t decide. Might have to see the finished thing first and maybe drive it.
No idea why it’s not costing Millions, except we don’t have it to spare… 🙂
I guess big car companies just do things with big budgets. We’re used to working with small or no budgets.
Cheers.
Having thought about ‘Defiant’ which I now quite like, I’m starting to appreciate that there could be potential in a name that swears in the face of convention/the oil companies/the car companies!
On that line…
Rebel, Demagogue, Mule, Firebrand, Maverick, Killjoy, Dissident, Radical, Renegade, Mutineer, Saboteur.
Or a somewhat more random suggestion…
The Wigand (Pronounced Wye-gand) – after the real life tobacco executive turned whistle-blower Jeffrey Wigand, depicted in the Pacino/Crowe film ‘The Insider’. Because of the parallels commonly drawn between the gag on science that the tobacco industry had and the gag the oil industry now has on science & technology.
http://www.jeffreywigand.com/
… “Insurgent” 😉
Looking good.
For a simple unpretentious name incorporating the derivation of the energy, how about: Breeze
Glad you like the name. Afterall, it is defying any common practice in the industry with great success. I knock on wood for the good work and wish you a great success!
Dale, you can’t drive it without knowing the name!
you wont know what your driving…;-)
J
Hey Dale,
How about naming it after a famous wind – ‘Chinook”
Cheers
JD
Call it ‘Mistral’
Looks like Tesla’s made some progress too:
http://cars.uk.msn.com/News/car_news_article.aspx?cp-documentid=15433038
Lotus have called their new model Evora. Combine that with Eco from Ecology or Ecotricity makes “Ecora”.
If you called it ‘Nemesis’ you might as well go the whole hog and call it ‘Narcissus’
Hi Dale
I have a great idea for you
When they finish the car why not have a go at the world indoor
speed record which is 82 miles per hour.
This was set at the NEC in Birmingham in 2006.
I know because I filmed it.
Top gear did 81 miles per hour inside the Exell centre
in a F1 car.
The Excel centre is 385 metres long.
The only problem is that you have to stop before you hit the wall.
Your engineers would be able to work out if it is possible.
It would be great publicity if sponsored 2 world records in the same year.
Looking forward to seeing your finished car.
From a Prius owner who is waiting for the Electric car Revolution.
Regards
David Hicks
For progess on electric cars go to
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/electric-avenues-batterypowered-cars-take-over-the-roads-1656473.html
Derek
Jeffrey Lam raises a good point here, isn’t the only thing that makes this a wind powered car where you plug it in? If the wind’s not blowing when you charge it is it a nuclear/coal/gas powered car?
I like the idea that the factory where it’s made could use wind power, how about hurrying the building at the Lotus factory along and then worry about the name.
ZEFR – “zero emissions f’ing rocket”. Keeps the west wind link but looses the Ford aspect.
How about:
“Davince”
Pronounce it any way you want!!
I love it!!
Greek god of wind Aeolus
Hopi wind god Yaponcha
Aztec wind god Ehecatle
Egyptian wind god Shu or Seth
Zephyr a breeze from the west
Nemesis the Greek goddess of retributive justice Huh ?
The car looks great and I really hope you can get it into production. I have been following electric cars and waiting for a decent looking, well built and fast electric car to come to market for some time so I’ll be waiting to see what happens with yours!
Good luck!