Dyson Plans Solar Powered Car
Vacuum Cleaner Whiz Going To The Streets
Update: Dyson Is NOT Making An Electric Car, A Report from London
The king of vacuum cleaners, James Dyson, is betting that a souped-up version of his vacuum cleaner and hair dryer motors will power cars over hundreds of miles.
Using technology developed for his lightweight electric motors, Dyson hopes to partner with Honda or another car maker, rather than build a car from the ground up.
Solar panels on top of the vehicle, or on the garage where it is stored, would provide electricity to charge the car’s battery. Of course, the best performance would probably come from a country where there’s abundant enough sunshine to keep the battery charged.
Of course, he could also think about adding a plug-in function, just in case it stays cloudy for days on end.
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Engineers at his Wiltshire HQ are currently said to be developing the motor at its facility in the Uk.
The British inventor has made a fortune with his bagless vacuum cleaner and hand dryer.
His first endeavor was the Ballbarrow, a wheel barrow he invented in the 1970’s, which led to the vacuum cleaner, the “supercharged” hand dryer, and more recently a two-drum washing machine.
Dyson believes electric cars are the future for city driving at present, but with his new motor they could reach much higher speeds and have a longer range.
Just think, you could whiz down the road, vacuuming up dust and debris, then blowing it to the side of the road or into a side-car Ballbarrow for dumping at an appropriate site.
What a concept.
Photo Credit: Mail Online
Story Source: Mail Online
References to other electric car posts:
- Mercedes, Smart to Sell Electric Cars in 2010
- Th!nk Ox: An Electric Car With Style and Smarts
- The All-Electric (EV) CitiCar: Powered by the Sun
- Mindset Six50 Electric Car Mixes Gas, Li-Ion and Solar Power
They should keep the vacuum part of the design that so these new cars could clean the roads as you drive.
If your car is sitting in the parking lot at work under the hot Sun for 9-12 hours, or even longer for some of us, why wouldn’t that be enough for solar panels to at least charge enough for short commutes? Who cares what the batteries weigh if one never has to pay for fuel? The Chevrolet Volt is supposed to be released in the next year or so and claims a 40 mile range without using the onboard engine to generate electricity. If solar panels can be utilized (maybe even some extra ones that serve as winshield barriers) could charge enough to run the car even only 20 miles a day, that is more than enough for more than 50% of US city commuters.
its waaay tooo ugly
the answer to the batter longevity problem in cars would be to use a micro-wave or lazer energy transmitor, that could be used on the highway. the usage could be charged in a way similar to the cellphones are. since the technology is about 75 percnet sucessfull an on board battery would still be needed. eventually once this type of tech. is improved batteries may not be necessary at all.
Given Mr. Dysan’s current pricing model for his “fan in a can” you can expect the car running on his motor to be similar in price to the US Space Shuttle or the gross domestic product of many third world countries.