From Vacuums to Automobiles: Sir James' Plans a Solar-Powered Car

Hardy Shen — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:18:21 -0500

Inventor Sir James Dyson, best known for his Dual Cyclone bag-less vacuum cleaner, has recently decided to work on a solar-powered car. He believes that within a decade, electric cars will out-number gasoline powered automobiles.

A similar vehicle, India's REVA G-Wiz, is the UK's best selling electric car. It only costs around $0.02 a mile to run and is graciously exempt from any sort of road tax. Unfortunately, the battery takes eight hours to charge, and will only travel 40 miles. Top speed: only 45 miles per hour. Sir James, whose inventions have already made him large sums of money, thinks he can improve on this.

"Electric cars are seen as city cars and to go 30mph is quite enough, but in the future that will change," he said. "An electric motor can go to very high speeds"

Unlike the G-Wiz, the Dysonmobile will charge its batteries through solar panels mounted on the roof of a garage, or onto the roof of the car itself. The motors planned for the vehicle are currently under development at Sir James' Wiltshire headquarters. They will be similar to those fitted in his vacuum cleaners and hand dryers.

The entrepreneur is also expecting to work with an existing automaker like Honda, as opposed to designing and fabricating the car by themselves.

+ U.K. Daily Mail: Vacuum cleaner king James Dyson plans solar-powered car that travels hundreds of miles

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From Vacuums to Automobiles: Sir James' Plans a Solar-Powered Car