Eco Factor: Shock-absorber system capable of generating up to 1KW of green electricity.
Driving your brand new car on a bumpy road seems more of a punishment to most car lovers. Some MIT students know that bumps on the road are imminent and they are not even trying to develop a futuristic bump-free road. Rather, they are trying to use those bumps for something conservative. A team of undergraduate students at MIT have developed a new shock absorber that uses these bumps to generate electricity for the next-gen electric cars.
The idea is to introduce a turbine system inside each shock absorber filled with a hydraulic fluid. As the car/truck runs over any bumps, the shock absorber pushes the hydraulic fluid through the turbine blades, which then generates electricity. The team tested the system in a 6-shock truck where they found each shock absorber is capable of generating up to 1KW on the road. If for some reason the electronic system fails, the shock absorber works just like a normal one. So in the future if your electric car needs charge, don’t look for a charging station but for a bumpy, broken road.
The Dark Side:
Driving a car on bumps for electricity seems great if your car is old but asking brand new car owners to ride on bumps for electricity seems insane.
Via: MIT
