Wind powered car

Does this make sense???? Make a car with a windmill on top, which turns a generator or alternator, which charges the batteries to run an electric car.

Ok, I am pretty good at putting things together, but I am no scientist. I know that there is no such thing as free energy, and this appears to be one of those concepts. Yet, when the car was moving, the windmill would spin, and thus charge the batteries..

But, would the windmill slow the car down so much that the batteries would drain whatever was being created by the windmill? Would it be possible to even have a windmill large enough on a car? Yes, I have considered all the possibilities that the windmill must be low enough to pass under bridges and wires. Actually a horizontal blade setup seems to make more sense, but that limits it to the size of the car roof..

Anyone have any thoughts in this matter?

I'm just doing some thinking about this.....

Mark

Reply to
maradcliff
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It might work if you could deploy it when the car was parked and if you lived in a windy area, but you would need to not use it when driving as it would be a net negative energy user. The energy generated would equal the energy it consumed (wind resistance) less inefficiencies in the generation process.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Try it let us know, and send a photo, no send alot of photos.

Reply to
m Ransley

Reminds me of a couple of guys I had an argument with years ago in high school. They insisted it took the same force to turn a generator that had a load on it as it did to turn one with no load. There's no free lunch. The energy it takes to turn that windmill as the car is driving down the road is coming from the car motor.

BTW, anybody here any more about cold fusion? I remember the 2 scientists claimed it worked, then others tried to duplicate their work and shot it all down. But then I recall later some researchers did find evidence that something no one could explain was going on.

Reply to
trader4

Yea but I just want a Photo.

Reply to
m Ransley

Here's a better one. Use the windmill, thru a gearbox, to a propellor which is at the back of the car to push it forward.

If you can get this to work, you have proven that the windmill will generate enough power to make a car move forward.

And you can do this with a small model, saving time and expense......

It's very much like sailing a sailboat into the wind. .....

( By the way, a sailboat won't sail directly into the wind, but rather at an angle. There's a good reason for that, as I suspect you may find with your car).......

Andy

Reply to
Andy

Your windmill WILL consume more energy to push it though the air than it will generate in electicity. Neither process is close to 100% efficient. A windmill powered vehicle could be made which moves slowly from energy derived from prevailing winds but not from the car's motion alone in still air.

Reply to
Louis Boyd

Rube? Rube Goldberg, is that you?

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

You should be ashamed of yourself for even thinking such garbage. I could understand perhaps a 6 year old being so ignorant; what's your excuse?

Reply to
AZ Nomad

Just stop and think about it for a moment.

Running on electric only would be impossible as the windmill would generate less energy that is required to move the car. Basic physics - you cannot get more energy out of a system than you put in, in fact you can't even break even, there is always a loss.

Running on gas would cause a decrease in gas mileage that would exceed whatever gain in electric you got during that period.

In summary it comes down to the old TANSTAAFL.

There is no such thing as "free energy".

Harry K

Reply to
Harry K

Did you take any physics classes in high school or college?

Reply to
FDR

a buddy with a 14 foot blade windmill says they at most get 22% of the eind energy passing thru the blades.

thus this would be a big loser.

let alone hauling around all the weight, ouch.

there are solutions to our politician created enery crisis.

things like biomass, to create ethyl alcohol.

big oil didnt like that...

Reply to
hallerb

a buddy with a 14 foot blade windmill says they at most get 22% of the eind energy passing thru the blades.

thus this would be a big loser.

let alone hauling around all the weight, ouch.

there are solutions to our politician created enery crisis.

things like biomass, to create ethyl alcohol.

big oil didnt like that...

Reply to
hallerb

a buddy with a 14 foot blade windmill says they at most get 22% of the eind energy passing thru the blades.

thus this would be a big loser.

let alone hauling around all the weight, ouch.

there are solutions to our politician created enery crisis.

things like biomass, to create ethyl alcohol.

big oil didnt like that...

Reply to
hallerb

No. For many, many reasons.

It's his kid, Robbie Goldberg.

R
Reply to
RicodJour

Man, this gives me an idea for a great airplane. If I could just use a giant bungee to get it in the air, then use the wind to spin a propeller up front that is hooked to a propeller out back that will push me through the air...

Ruben Goldberg II

Reply to
DJ

Andy replies:

Well, the car could sit still while the windmill was charging the battery. Then in a couple of days the battery would be charged, and the windmill could be "feathered" and the charge in the battery used to propel the car in any direction he wanted to go. Now THAT approach would work. But I don't think it's what the fellow has in mind......

Andy

Reply to
Andy

this is what the generator/alternator is for...

Reply to
JillAdams

At the same time you can make the back wheels larger than the front so the car is always rolling down hill. ;-)

A sail on the car will likely be more efficient.

Reply to
Keith

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