Dale Vince's Electric Car Runs Quite Fast Indeed!

Trust an eccentric Brit to pull off something spectacular if he puts his mind to it, and you won't go wrong. That is the country that gave us the jet engine, after all, as it did thrust vectored aircraft, several amazing cars, some of the world's best stereo systems and much more. While the Brits love few things more than arguing and living the good life, they do some amazing work whenever they set their minds to it, and they do it in a fashion that no one else can emulate. I have posted about dale Vince and his company Ecotricity www.ecotricity.co.uk before. He had plans to manufacture what he called a "wind powered car," and while the term was somewhat sensationalist because the car was not directly powered by the wind, it was accurate because he owns the most profitable company generating power using the wind after all. Turns out that the car, a modified Lotus Exige, has some amazing performance as this link on Autoblog Green and this video show: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/06/24/video-ecotricitys-electric-exige-wind-car-exceeds-expectations/

As friends who are interested in electric vehicles understand, this is the same platform used by Tesla for their roadster. This is a proven platform, after all, and one that has been very successfully demonstrated as far as using it for electric vehicles is concerned. I like this idea of a different vehicle with similar shattering performance - I do wish that the final version of whatever Vince decides to call his car, would look different from the Lotus offering, though. Mark my words - this does have the potential to be another great British car produced by yet another eccentric British genius. I can't wait for more updates on this!

Showing the Fist to Those Who Claim that Clean Energy Isn't Profitable

I have written about Ecotricity website: http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/ before. Dale Vince, the owner, is prone to a little hyperbole, but his talk of a "wind powered car" is nowhere near as untrustworthy as the lies that self-appointed "experts" seem to have come out with to tell the world that clean energy would never be profitable. This entry at Treehugger points out that Vince is one of Britain's richest men: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/uk-wind-entrepreneur-rich-list.php We have also seen, in past posts, that the electricity sold by his companies is, in fact, cheaper than that which is sold by the soot producers. So why the continued crap in the media about clean energy being more expensive? My feeling is that this is because some self-important jerks have a need to lie in order to get media-time. These are usually people who love the sound of their own voice, and they also love seeing their names in print. If terrorists need to be denied the "oxygen of publicity" as Ronald Reagan put it, then these pathological liars about Green Energy deserve to be denied this even more.

Which brings me to another big lie - that green energy is expensive. Check this link out from Instructables via Treehugger about making a solar cooker using defective CDs: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/build-a-solar-cooker.php

British Wind Power Company Works on Advanced Electric Car

I like this post on Autoblog Green a lot because it features a very interesting (and frank) video interview with Dale Vince, the founder of Ecotricity and his plan to build an electric sports car that would outperform a Lotus: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/03/19/zero-carbonistas-wind-powered-car-with-no-name-keeps-moving-for/

What struck me were VInce's explanations about why he decided to get into the wind power business - the exact, same reasons apply to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc as well. Yes, I know that Pakistan and Bangladesh have extensive natural gas reserves but I would, much rather that these countries use these reserves for more than just powering their vehicles considering that both countries have abundant wind and sunlight as well . . .

In any case, the Vince interview is very interesting. He is working on a name for his car - anyone with ideas might want to post on the thread. Also, do check his website out. The man is an inspiration to anyone who likes cars and motorcycles and wants to pursue his / her enjoyment without using fossil fuels. Now, what do I have to do to make the money to buy an electric sportscar, ha, ha! http://www.ecotricity.co.uk/