Shock Absorbers But, Energy Efficient

by Guest 6th June 2010, 4:54 pm

WE already harvest the power of the sun and the wind. Soon we may also harvest the power of potholes. A new type of shock absorber under development by the Levant Power Corporation converts the bumps and jolts of vehicles on rough roads into usable electricity.
Usually, shock absorbers dissipate the energy of bouncing vehicles as heat. But the new shocks can use the kinetic energy of bounces to generate watts, putting the electricity to use running the vehicle’s windshield wipers, fans or dashboard lights, for example.

The devices, called GenShocks, can be installed both in ordinary and hybrid vehicles, lowering fuel consumption by 1 to 6 percent, depending on the vehicle and road conditions, said Shakeel Avadhany, chief executive of the company, which is based in Cambridge, Mass.

The new shocks look like ordinary shock absorbers with an electrical power cord at one end. They plug into a power box that regulates the electricity they produce, putting it out at a voltage required by the truck, car or bus.

GenShocks will cost slightly more than conventional shock absorbers, Mr. Avadhany said, “but you will get those dollars back through improved fuel economy.” He projected that the products would be on the market in the second quarter of 2011.

Levant Power, founded in 2008, owes part of its origins to the legendary potholes of Boston, said Edwin L. Thomas, a professor of materials science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former teacher of Mr. Avadhany when he was an undergraduate there.

When you hit a pothole, he explained, your car moves vertically as well as horizontally. That costs more gasoline per mile because energy is wasted when the forward velocity of the car is converted to vertical motion.

“It’s like a sprinter who has to also run hurdles,” Professor Thomas said.

Many research groups have tried using shock absorbers to generate electricity, he said, but in his opinion GenShocks have an advantage over earlier models. “This shock has a clever mechanical design,” he said, one that pushes hydraulic fluid through the piston head in an unusual way.