Can you power an electric supercar with lemon-power? It depends on the lemon-power. In the video above, science YouTuber and former NASA JPL engineer Mark Rober attempts to fill a 48-kilowatt-hour battery with electricity to support the Volkswagon I.D. R electric supercar at the 2018 Pikes Peak Hill Climb.
In the mix: The world’s largest lemon battery, a lesson about how circuits work, what could be the most expensive glass of lemonade ever made, a party, a kid-made sprinkler system, a quick visit to Mars, and fails that inspired new battery-filling solutions: A zip line with regenerative braking and a few days of solar power with a twist.
And by the way, the Volkswagen ID R smashed the Pikes Peak Hill Climb Record in just under eight minutes. “The all-electric race car not only set a new record for EVs, but set the fastest time ever, by any car, even ones with high-performance, gas-gulping, engines.”
Plus: More about circuits, including fourth graders who created a solar powered classroom, an Electric Dough Playdate, a plastic bottle water wheel power generator experiment, and the Stanford Solar Car Project: Racing on Sunshine.
Bonus: How do solar panels work? And how a failed invention lead to a potentially life-saving new idea.
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