Fast as the wind

Everybody knows them and everybody knows what they’re for. But at least they know what they are capable of. We are talking about wind turbines. Guess what: How many revolutions does a wind turbine with 7.5 megawatts (MW) need to completely charge an electric vehicle with 100 kilowatt hours (kWh) battery capacity?

There are only ten revolutions which do not last longer than one minute. Even smaller wind turbines with only 3.3 MW require only 24 revolutions. For example, a modern wind turbine can supply around 4000 electric cars with electricity in one year if it is assumed that an average electric car needs around 2500 kWh per year. If the vehicle has a low battery capacity, such as Teslas Model 3, the battery (50 kWh) can be fully charged with only 5 revolutions.

But how environmentally friendly is this solution, electric cars in combination with a wind turbine? A large electric vehicle such as the Tesla Model S or Model 3, for example, can only make up for its carbon footprint from production after about eight years. A Golf, on the other hand, can claim this after only three years. Wind turbines can take off their CO2 backpacks much faster. After around 4 to 7 months, a wind turbine is climate-neutral.