JESTER - Li-ion UK ELECTRIC RANGE RECORD - February 2004

HOME   INDEX   SOLAR CARS   LEAD-WEDGE  SILVER-EAGLE  BATTERY-BOX  BE1  LIGHTNING-ROD  BE2  WHITE-LIGHTNING  BUCKEYE BULLET  EMOTION   BLUEBIRD

Partners and investors sought - worldwide!

Steve Green (steve@greenerenergy.com) of Hampshire-based Progressive Energy Technologies(PET) reports that his now fully "li-ionized" Jester EV has exceeded all his expectations.  

Jester record setting electric car - 70 mph and 200 mile range.

Steve, worked for the CEGB, Central Electricity Generating Board as an engineer.  He says: "I have been road-trialing a set of Thunder Sky Lithium batteries in the car for more than a year now and they have been performing very well. I finally got the official testing carried out by AEA Technology so that we now have official urban cycle and extra urban cycle power consumption tests ( tested to BS EN 1986-1:1997). The attachment shows the car on the rolling road. The figures came out as:

Extra urban cycle: 255 km/156 miles
Urban cycle: 326 km/ 204 miles
Urban cycle power consumption: 0.121 kWh/km
Extra urban cycle power consumption: 0.155 kwh/km
Maximum speed measured during tests: 114 kmh/71 mph
Useable energy stored in batteries: 39.6 kWh
Motor: Advanced DC with Regenerative Braking

Pretty impressive I think you'll agree. But we believe that with further investment and better state-of-the-art components we could go on to enhance the overall performance - speed, acceleration, range - by a further 10-15% and get to 250 miles per charge and 80 mph. For example, by using even more sophisticated regen braking and gearing and an even higher-spec motor.  Then there's the possibility of using dual hub motors of course.

There are 27 Lithium ion cells mounted under the bonnet in 9 groups of 3.  A further 75 cells (25 groups of 3) are mounted at the back of the car, making 102 cells in total. The total of 34 groups of cells gives 300Ah at a nominal 125.8 Volts (3.7 V per cell).  The available power from the batteries is fed to a series wound dc motor via a 500 Amp controller. The controller and power relays are just in front of the batteries. The motor is beneath the batteries and drives the front wheels via a sigle reduction gear and differential to give an overall ratio of 5.45:1.  Forward, reverse and regenerative braking are derived electronically from the controller.  Also situated under the bonnet is a dc voltage converter to supply the normal car electrical systems and to charge an emergency hazard warning and lighting battery.

Under the bonnet

The Energy Saving Trust and Transport Energy, which are part of the Department for Transport( DfT), who were helping fund the tests seemed surprised by the results. They told me they couldn't really find anything to compare them with and, strangely considering the performance, they don't seem especially keen to help further.  As most readers will know the DfT are very keen on hybrids and possibly they don't want to upset the big players, such as the petrochemical interests and more importantly, the Treasury, which relies on petrol taxes to float the economy and keep the whole crank and piston industry alive.

Steve reckons he could sell these cars - and a four seat version - particularly in London with the congestion charge weighing on people's minds.  If only he could produce a reasonable quantity.  At say 10-50 a year the price would really start looking good.  It's difficult to say what the sell-price would be: I built this prototype for less than £6000 so a fair ball-park guesstimate would be somewhere in the region of £15k - allowing for labour, VAT, return to investors, a little profit etc. Anyway - that's around 10 Jesters for the price of one TZero !

Unfortunately, though, Steve admits he is not a salesman or a marketing executive.  He doesn't have the production capability. So he is urgently looking for joint-venture partners and investors:  He'd consider setting up production facilities just about anywhere in the world (but especially in Europe and the US) if the conditions and the people were right.

The li-ion powered Jester

Greener Energy,
Dock Cottage, Dock Lane,
Beaulieu,
Hampshire, SO42 7YH
Telephone: +44(0)1590 612360
Email: steve@greenerenergy.com

SOLAR NAVIGATOR    SITE INDEX   CATAMARAN HULL    SOLAR PANELS    ELECTRIC MOTORS    BATTERIES   CREW    EXPEDITION    SPONSORS  GOODIES

The content of this website is copyright © and design copyright 1991 and 2004 Electrick Publications and NJK. All rights reserved. The bird logo and name Bluebird and Blue Max are trademarks.  The BE2 and BE3 vehicle shape and configuration are registered designs ®.  All other trademarks are hereby acknowledged.  www.maxenergy.org is an environmental educational charity.