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The Royal Academy of Engineering has issued a report entitled Electric Vehicles Charged With Potential. This indicates that a significant proportion of road vehicles will have to be electric powered in order to meet the UK target to reduce C02 emissions by 80% by 2050. There will probably be a mixture of Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and pure Electric Vehicles (EVs).
Green MotorSport believes that to produce efficient electric vehicles you should design the vehicle as such, based on its application and typical use. You can not just take a current vehicle designed for general use powered by a heavy internal combustion engine and simply put a heavy industrial electric motor in it. The lessons are clear in history. The first motorised vehicles were called horseless carriages, and were just that. It was soon apparent that a rethink was necessary. Over time the modern ICE powered car has developed and in later years has also become much heavier. In moving to a different type of vehicle we also need a rethink about what those vehicles need to do. This will affect materials, design, weight and safety requirements. If we use lightweight composites, vehicles will be much lighter, power requirements will be less, and crash performance will be entirely different. Steel bodied cars crumple and deform whereas composite structures can provide the same sort of safety cell as seen in formula one construction.
The advent of volume electric cars presents a whole new area for development and design. This is a major change for conventional vehicle producers whose current designs and manufacturing facilities are likely to require the same radical changes that followed the early use of the petrol engine. Government departments need to recognise this and invest in research and development now to give the UK a chance to become a nation based on manufacturing again.
The WISPER electric car prototype
EVENTS
Come and see us at the following events.
The Royal Bath and West Show : 2nd-5th June 2010
Green MotorSport will again be at the Royal Bath and West Show and will be exhibiting a number of exciting new technologies. This year’s show will be the biggest so far in Bath, as environmental technology gains increasing importance as fuel costs and living costs rise. Green MotorSport will once again exhibit its super electric composite prototype called the "WISPER" at the show in the eco zone, as well as its new high powered LED solar lighting systems.
 
Gordon Foat (above left) showed the Wisper electric sports car to Sophie, Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex GCVO, at the Royal Bath and West Show.
 The car won the first prize for Sustainable Transport at the Show.
South of England Show 10th – 12th June 2010
The EcoVillage will be making its debut at the"South of England Show" in 2010 with over 120 exhibitors and a picnic area. The South of England Show attracts over 80,000 visitors. Green MotorSport will display the Wisper in the dedicated EcoVillage area.
New Sponsors who have joined Green MotorSport
PASSION for the PLANET RADIO is an entertaining mix of music and speech. Listen on DAB digital radio, or online using our webplayer.
Also joining Green MotorSport is the Book of Green, an ECO Living Directory
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