After electric super car, the Nemesis, smashed the UK electric car land-speed record last Thursday, Damon Hill OBE took the car on a lap of Silverstone yesterday as part of a fundraising drive for the halow project.
Hill is Patron and founder member of halow - the charity is committed to supporting young people with a learning disability to become more independent and have the same life chances and choices as any other young person.
Joining Damon in the Nemesis was Dan Maguire, supporter of halow, who successfully bid for the once-in-a-lifetime experience at a halow fundraising event which took place in London in July, raising over £50,000 for the charity.
The Nemesis – brainchild of Dale Vince OBE, who founded the world’s first green electricity company, Ecotricity – broke the UK electric car land-speed record last week reaching 151 mph.
Former F1 World Champion Damon was delighted to go electric in aid of halow.
Damon said: “It’s great for Dale and Ecotricity to make this happen for halow - it helps us generate the funds we need. And Dan Maguire is one of the many generous people that bid at the auction – everything we raise helps make someone’s life better through halow, which is such a great charity and a very worthwhile cause.”
Powered entirely by 100% green electricity made by Ecotricity’s network of 53 windmills around the UK, the Nemesis was designed and built in less than two years by an ‘A-team’ of leading British motorsport engineers in Norfolk.
Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, said: “It is great to see the Nemesis with Damon behind the wheel. We built the car to smash conventions and challenge thinking about what an electric car can do – last week we broke the electric land-speed record and today it’s powering around Silverstone with Damon Hill at the wheel. There is no logical reason to oppose electric cars anymore – what are we waiting for?”
Damon was also highly impressed with the speed of the record-breaking Nemesis around the Silverstone track.
Damon said: “It's incredible: incredible speed, very quick. The electric car has so many advantages, noise and pollution being on high on that list, particularly in urban environments. The power to run this car has come from the wind – it’s free energy, so we’re foolish if we don’t put our mind to work and figure out solutions as to how we live on this planet.”
The Nemesis can travel from 100-150 miles between charges depending on driving style and can be charged from empty in under 30mins using rapid-charging infrastructure.
Building the Nemesis
The Nemesis team were involved in developing some of the most inspiring sports cars of this century - the McLaren F1, the Lotus Elan, the Corvette 2R1, the Jaguar XJR15 and the De Lorean. They also problem-solve for the world's top motor sports teams, yet not one of them had ever worked on electric cars before the Nemesis.
The ‘donor’ car - a second-hand Lotus Exige - was bought on eBay and rebuilt from the ground up to become the Nemesis. The engineers lengthened the chassis by 90mm, lowered and shifted the centre of gravity forward, fitted a cluster of 96 lithium-ion polymer cells that sit in a carbon-fibre and Kevlar fire resistant coating with ceramic fire suppression system, two brushless motors, a completely new transmission, and a lot of electronic wizardry. Several patents to protect the unique design have already been applied for.
About halow project:
The inspiration for halow came from Harriet, Amber, Laura, Oliver and William, each having a learning disability. Their parents, all friends, came together at the beginning of 2006 concerned with the prospect for their children's future and others like them. Passionate that these young people should lead positive and happy lives, near their own friends and families in Surrey, the parents established the halowproject.
The halow project is a charity committed to supporting young people with a learning disability to have the same life choices as any other young person. The young people we work with want the opportunity to:
- Build relationships
- Become part of the community
- Find meaningful employment
- And have a home of their own
About Ecotricity
Britain’s leading green energy company, Ecotricity, was founded in 1996 with a single windmill that started the UK’s green electricity market. Ecotricity now powers over 66,000 homes and businesses from the wind and sun, while developing technology that harnesses wave-power and green-gas. A ‘not-for-dividend’ business, Ecotricity invests more per customer in building new green energy generation than any other UK energy company.
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