Generator helps to collect electricity during vehicle operation

The team of researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison invented the nanoscale generator (TENG), integrated into tires to help collect electricity during the wheel rolling process.

Utilize friction from tires and road surfaces to convert into electricity during vehicle operation

The first prototype collected 10.4% of the energy level from the beginning and this number continues to increase, promising to come with renewable energy braking systems and some existing technologies to help strengthen operability of electric or hybrid vehicles , which is the future trend of human transport.

Professor Wang and the tire generator system on the toy car model

This is a nano -sized monopolar friction generator and optimized for cars. In theory, its operation is similar to that of converting kinetic energy into electricity, except here the input energy source is from friction . The team said that the amount of electricity collected from the tires will be coupled with electricity from the regenerative braking system, added to the battery in the car, increasing its duration, thereby helping electric cars or hybrids with mileage. Longer transfer. In fact, the friction generator was first made by Zhong Lin Wang engineer with claims that it could collect 85% of the total energy used.

This system simply collects the energy generated when two different surfaces touch and slide on each other. Therefore, it requires this process to be carried out continuously and the tire is the right candidate to apply this type of generator (tires and pavement continuously friction during the car operate). In this study, Professor Xudong Wang of the University of Wisconsin-Madison stated that the first prototype recaptured 10.4% of the initial energy and this number will continue to increase in the near future. .

Power strips from friction are being fitted to the wheels of a toy car in the test

In the test with the TENG system , the team used six strips of material into the rear wheel of an electric toy car with six LED lights on the car. The results showed that energy generated when moving vehicles could light 6 LEDs and at the maximum time, the current generated reached 1.79 mW. However, the amount of electricity that can be increased depends on the weight and speed of the vehicle, so the researchers believe that the amount of energy output will increase significantly if applied to actual size and weight vehicles. Of course, the car cannot operate solely thanks to the electric energy from the tires, but the technology promises to equip full or hybrid cars completely, greatly increasing the battery life , thereby increasing the distance. but it can go.

The team said that it is possible to consider the amount of electricity generated by the tires alone, but in fact, for example, the Nissan Leaf uses 80 kW, 10% of the recovered energy can help it. up to 12 km - a short distance and this figure for Tesla is about 43 km. Looking ahead, the team is looking to expand the size of the TENG system and integrate it into real tires, promising to apply to cars in the near future.