Tata Nexon EV spotted with a windmill on roof

The electric vehicle culture is still at its novice stages in India. The market share of the electric vehicles is currently minuscule compared to the regular cars but still, there are a handful of people who are choosing the EVs. Tata Nexon EV is the best-selling electric car in India and you can spot one easily on the public roads of cities. Well, here is one such Tata Nexon EV spotted on the roads of Gujarat and it has a windmill mounted on its roof!

Indians are known for their makeshift works and finding the solution to any problem by “jugaad” techniques. Even this Tata Nexon EV owner tried doing that. While we are not sure what is happening in the car and why the owner has mounted the windmill, out best guess is that he has done this to charge the battery on the move. The set-up looks interesting and can get you good marks for a school or college project but it is not as practical as it seems.

The vehicle was spotted in Rajkot, Gujarat. Someone on the road captured the Nexon EV driving down the road. The windmill on the roof is moving too but we are not sure if it is generating enough power to charge the batteries of the Nexon EV.

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Why is this a bad idea?

For numerous reasons. First is the weight of the set-up. It is a well-known fact that lighter cars provide more efficiency and are quicker too. That’s because the engine has to move less weight and do less work in the process. The same concept goes for the electric vehicles, the lighter vehicles will have a longer range because the motor is working less and drawing lesser power too. The set-up must be quite heavy and with an additional dynamo to generate electricity from the mill, it should be about 100 kg in weight. A bad idea.

The second problem is the windmill itself. Windmills do not generate a large amount of electricity. The windmills function by using the power of the wind to rotate the dynamo and produce electricity. Now, with a windmill of this size, it will have to move at a fast pace to generate a significant amount of electricity to charge the car. The most commercial windmill that you see on the farm is rated to generate about 1.5 kW and that too depends on the speed of the wind. A turbine that is mounted on the top of the Nexon will not generate any significant amount of current to charge the batteries.

The third problem is the drag itself. Car manufacturers use massive wind tunnels to streamline the design of the vehicles and make them more slippery through the air. This reduces the drag and increases fuel efficiency and speed, especially at higher speeds. That is why Formula 1 cars and all the racing cars look so aerodynamic. With a device added on the roof to increase the overall drag of the vehicle, it will just use more battery to overcome the drag.

Increase the range of EV?

The best possible ways to increase the range of the EV is to drive slow, just like any other car powered by fossil fuel. Keep the right footl ight and the regeneration on the highest level to get the maximum range out of the EV. Yes, there are a few prototype vehicles that use solar panels to feed the batteries but they are just prototypes and won’t be able to accommodate your family.

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