GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2...the-r/ Kinda odd looking, but I think its a GREAT step in the right direction. The wind turbines work on this car because they arent to big, thus not slowing down the car and making to much drag. Hopefully they have regenerative breaking as well. Id totally hit this up if it was decently priced

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »Kinda odd looking, but I think its a GREAT step in the right direction. The wind turbines work on this car because they arent to big, thus not slowing down the car and making to much drag. Hopefully they have regenerative breaking as well. Id totally hit this up if it was decently pricedWell, someone at Mitsubishi didn't pay attention to the law of physics. The wind turbines are a nice thought, but thanks to inefficiencies, they will always create more drag than power...that's a big disappointment right there that they missed these principals...Otherwise, it is good to see they are going green..

well depending on how they use them...if they had them turn only when slowing down/braking then it would make some sense.

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »well depending on how they use them...if they had them turn only when slowing down/braking then it would make some sense. Agreed, but it wouldn't make sense to have them on while the car is putting around town...

they are super small though so how much actual drag could they incur to actually make them worthless....they would also have to be very efficient in their spinning...little friction.

I just threw up a little in my mouth.

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »they are super small though so how much actual drag could they incur to actually make them worthless....they would also have to be very efficient in their spinning...little friction.They still create drag. And last I looked, it would be no better than say 90% (due to electrical conversion efficiencies) of the theoretical limit (see Betz limit) of 60% - if it actually converted all it could which hasn't occurred yet ( http://www.bwea.com/ref/faq.html#efficient ).When they are spinning in the wind, it is as if it were a blocked off portion of the car (contributing to frontal area)...now, the position here shows they are already accounted for in frontal area, but the resistance they will provide to the aerodynamics is proportional to the amount of energy they are generating + inefficiencies.