Guest Post: Dave and the Nemesis
Transport, Wind Car
Here’s a guest post for you from Ecotricity staffer Dave. He was recently asked to put the Nemesis to the test as a commuter vehicle! Here’s his thoughts:
A few weeks ago I was asked if I would mind driving the Nemisis for a few weeks. We apparently needed to get a few miles on it and test it in ‘normal’ daily use – whatever that means?
I work in the Ecotricity offices in Stroud and live in Worcestershire, a daily commute of about 51 miles in each direction, assuming that I take no detours on the way home. My normal mode of transport is either a diesel VW or a motorcycle that each do around 50mpg for the journey (over £12 per day in fuel).
Well, the chance to drive a car like the Nemisis was too good an opportunity to miss so of course I welcomed it with open arms, I mean the chance to drive a super car that would do 0-100mph in 8 seconds doesn’t present itself every day! (more…)
The Nemesis has landed
Transport, Wind Car
Finally. About two years after we started – the Nemesis is ‘finished’.
I’ve been meaning to post something before now, but the last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind. Here’s a quick heads up, some stuff you might know already from the news, some you probably won’t.
The car arrived in Stroud nearly three weeks ago now (Tuesday the 28th Oct) looking simply awesome. It was the first time I’d seen it in it’s finished form, complete with grey and black union jack paint job and all sorts of other bits and pieces – it really is transformed from the car that was here in the summer of 09 – for a few months.
Wind Car Update – 13 of 6
Transport, Wind Car
Video production: TWA Productions
A day at Bruntingthorpe
Two weeks ago now we took the Nemesis to Bruntingthorpe, for it’s first real track day.
We had two purposes, to test safety followed by speed.
Wind Car Update – 12 of 6
Transport, Wind Car
Video production: TWA Productions
We’re getting there….
There was a time when I thought we’d make this car in 12 episodes (actually there was a time when I thought we’d make it in 6)… 🙂
But here we are, episode 12 of 6, and I think we’re still a couple of episodes away from completion.
Nemesis Latest
Transport, Wind Car
Sorry it’s been a few weeks since I posted anything on the car here, or anything at all on this site in fact, my bad – only excuse is there’s a lot going on. More of that next week I hope.
Meanwhile, on the car front:
The new lightweight rear end and rear diffusers are both fitted and fully functional.
The rear end is now stiffer, lighter and much easier to get on and off. Also we’ve got the new rear lights installed and wiring complete now as you can see from the picture. The back end of this car is def its best side.
The diffuser (the bit that wraps under the car at the back, with the number plate on) has its twin flaps, either side of the number plate, one for normal and one for fast charge connections.
Our guys have been working on something dubbed ‘the Lobster Claw’ which is a cable retract mechanism. Looks rather cool and is about 90% complete. Basically it allows you to pull a three pin plug (or whatever connection we choose) from the back of the car, pull out as much or as little cable as you need, plug in and when you’re done, snatch to retract – like a Hoover (or should I say Dyson these days). (more…)
Nemesis update – nearly there.
Transport, Wind Car
Here’s the latest. We’ve almost finished making a new lightweight rear body panel for the car. The old one was very heavy and floppy, so our guys whipped up a new one in carbon fibre. It’ll actually help us with the fitting of the charging equipment by saving the need for engineering up a bunch of structural support – for a panel that’s already too heavy.
We get a slick new carbon body, save a lot of weight (where we don’t want weight – the rear) and make the charging kit an easy install. Neat solution.
We’ve also got a new diffuser coming out of the moulds. This is the bit that sits under the rear of the car. It’s being engineered with some nifty flaps to the left and right that pull down to expose the two charging options:
Normal (13A and slow) or Abnormal (100A and fast).
With some changes to the rear lights and to the internals viewed through the rear window thrown in – this part of the car is going to be pretty slick. (more…)
Nemesis Update
Transport, Wind Car
A quick update on the car front.
I had my first breakdown the other week. I went to drive away in the morning and everything was just dead. Turned out the 12v battery we use to power the control side had gone flat, and oddly enough a couple of fuses were blown. As you can see from the picture, I got the youngest member of the team on the job, with my own personal favourite ‘spanner’…. 🙂
And when we’d finished fooling around we called Bob and he came down and fixed it. No big drama but some useful ‘operational experience’.
Actually things have kind of ground to a halt on the Nemesis. It’s been with me since August, for what was meant to be a months worth of road testing while the Battery Management System (BMS) was finished. Three months later I’ve still got the car and we’ve not got a BMS yet. Which is disappointing to say the least. Everything else about the project has gone incredibly well, but for this – and it’s held us up for over six months now. It’s a frustration for all of us, not just me.
The car goes – it goes like hell, it’s just not ‘plug and play’ – by which I mean I can’t just plug it in to charge it. It takes a laptop and some close attention and we’re not able to charge to the full potential of the cells (for safety). So it’s “close but no cigar”. (more…)
Car pool with Robert Llewellyn
Transport, Wind CarA little while ago, Dale had the pleasure of being picked up and driven around by Robert Llewellyn for his very entertaining and simple yet clever online CarPool show. Here’s the video as published today – hope you enjoy.
Festival of Innovation and 500Kites
Energy, Transport, Wind CarHiya Folks,
Paul here (back off my hols).
A couple of event announcements for our UK based readers. Firstly – I thought you might like to know about a public appearance of the Nemesis Wind Powered Car happening on the 12th/13th September at the Science Museum in Wroughton, Near Swindon in Wiltshire. It will be part of the family oriented Festival of Innovation. I am hoping to be there with my family on the 12th – so might see you there? It is a free event (although high carbon producing transport will be charged £5 to park).
Here’s the event page for the Festival of Innovation on Facebook.
Also – Ecotricity are hosting a kite festival to celebrate the power of the wind on the 13th September 2009.
Help us to fill the sky with kites and celebrate the power of the wind at Thistledown Environment Centre, near Nailsworth (Stroud).
- Free Admission
- 500 kites to give away (or fly your own)
- Explore 70 acres of natural environment and wildlife
- Free soft drinks courtesy of bottlegreen
- Professional kite demonstration
I also created a Facebook event page for the 500Kites event too.
Take it easy, and we hope to see you at one or both 🙂
Paul
Wind Car Update – 11 of 6
Transport, Wind Car
Video production: Tim Walter Associates Limited
Here’s our latest, probably penultimate, video update of the wind car project.
I’ve had the Nemesis (yes it finally has a name) on the road for the last few weeks and it’s been a lot of fun (unless you’re a hedge in my vicinity….:). (more…)
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