...so that was where Williams F1 got their idea from!
The last 'failed flywheel' project that I know of is the Williams F1 solutions for 'KERS' - kinetic energy something system...
This system lost out to normal batteries in F1 and Williams sold on their flywheel business to GKN. GKN now sell the Williams flywheel solution for things like buses.
For a while Porsche 911 style cars (RS-whatever) had the Williams flywheel, this took up the passenger seat so you could be sat next to one of the things in your roll cage, with helmet and flameproof suit on. That project died a death.
Before anything was known of the Williams system I was 'hoping' it would be entirely mechanical, no electrons needed. However, their solution was electric so the motor driving the wheels could go in re-gen mode and another motor/generator in the flywheel pack spun the flywheel up to speed.
The Williams system never exploded and there were no safety concerns, which is of note as F1 (thanks to Jackie Stewart) is extremely safety aware.
The problem was less technical, more psychological. Nobody wanted to sit near such a 140K rpm thing, with a razor sharp crazy sound. Worse then nuclear, which you don't hear at all.
The last 'failed flywheel' project that I know of is the Williams F1 solutions for 'KERS' - kinetic energy something system...
This system lost out to normal batteries in F1 and Williams sold on their flywheel business to GKN. GKN now sell the Williams flywheel solution for things like buses.
For a while Porsche 911 style cars (RS-whatever) had the Williams flywheel, this took up the passenger seat so you could be sat next to one of the things in your roll cage, with helmet and flameproof suit on. That project died a death.
Before anything was known of the Williams system I was 'hoping' it would be entirely mechanical, no electrons needed. However, their solution was electric so the motor driving the wheels could go in re-gen mode and another motor/generator in the flywheel pack spun the flywheel up to speed.
The Williams system never exploded and there were no safety concerns, which is of note as F1 (thanks to Jackie Stewart) is extremely safety aware.