Charging an Electric Car with a DIY Wind Turbine?!

We really hope you enjoy this episode - consider it some cockel-warming content to get you through your Wednesday afternoon!

Use a wind turbine to power a hair dryer? just cut out the middleman and dry your hair with wind..

I'm just amazed the crew let Robert near both a multitool knife and a jigsaw. 🙂

The rated power of the KiteX Wind Catcher is 200W @ 5.5 m/s wind speed, that is the max power output. Average wind speed at UK measuring stations is 4.5 m/s, measured over the last 20 years. At 4.5 m/s it looks like it would output 125W. Wind should be turbulence free to reach these numbers. A lot to carry for a tiny bit of power. The car charging is mostly a test of the power station, not the wind turbine.

16:20 "It's not completely fake, just complicated" Awesome review and very self aware. always welcomed.

I love that it's Android only! 🤣

When Robert pulled out that little Jackery I knew the answer! 😂 In all seriousness, the question is really two questions: 1. Can a portable wind turbine add power to a portable battery? Yes 2. Do portable batteries exist which can run a domestic car charger? Yes Did Robert have one of those available? No

looks hopelessly fragile.

Looks very well engineered but overly complicated for a true portable ‘leisure’ product. Emergencies maybe but nobody on the normal scale is going to enjoy building and dismantling that more than once, or at all :) As for EV charging, you’ve a good sense of humour :p

Almost a glimpse into your household at Christmas. “Have you read the instructions?” 😂❤

I'm glad it wasn't windy. Those packing materials would have flown half way across the farm. 😂 Admittedly, it would be funny to watch Robert chase them down.

Such a great adventure with friends -- putting together a wind turbine! KiteX- a portable wind turbine... Amazing! Thank you for showing what wonderful things are being developed AND already being used. Love your enthusiasm, Mr. Llewellyn.

Two things you could do to get some charging from a lower powered (cheaper) battery bank or power source : 1) Set the current limit on the granny cable - different GCs have different settings available, the minimum possible (due to the J1772 protocol) is 6 amps. 2) Set the battery bank/source to output 110v - most cars' onboard chargers will accept this, and it haves the minimum power at which some charging is possible,. as the J1772 6A limit is regardless of voltage. On many cars, charging at low powers can be pretty inefficient due to the power drawn by the systems that are on while charging.

I think if I went camping I would be using the car as the power source using V2L. And use a level 2 or DC charger to top up.

I notice the turbine also magically changed location from a hill top to what looks like Robert's back garden. 🙂

Yeh, sort of like saying you can charge your car from a generator attached to a bicycle, technically correct but not exactly the whole story. You made it quite entertaining though so thank you!

If the makers of the windmill are taking advice, suggest: You can for quite a low cost make your product a WiFi hot spot and make all the software a web page so that it doesn't matter what phone is used. Making it not need any sort of app would be even better. You have to run a cable to bring the power down so a few extra wires is not a problem. Some sprinkler controllers make it all work with 3 push buttons and a two line LCD display.

An EVSE can, according to the standard, request a current draw of 6A and upwards in 1A steps.. In other words, with the correct EVSE you need an inverter that can sustain 1400W continually.. As far as I know the inverter they used in the video is 600W. Bjørn Nyland (AKA Tesla Bjørn) uses portable AC power banks (AKA "Solar Generator") to recharge the cars after he tests how they have implemented their low battery shutdown.

As another of your TV programmes would say - Proper Job 😁

In my humble opinion there is a MASSIVE gap in the UK market for a reliable self-limiting wind turbine that can generate a solid 150-500Watts in decent wind. People with an acre or more are generally screaming out for a wind turbine to compliment their solar PV. Alas, I dont think this does the job. Harmony Turbines in the USA have got me quite excited but they're still in development plus I'm not entirely sure they're wanting to export to the UK. Every new housing development should include a 10kW turbine where a small maintenance fee is included in the contract.