Quote:
Originally Posted by Hersbird
In my opinion if there is a bunch of wasted energy there will be heat buildup. So the springs don't waste any energy, they store some briefly and then immediately return it to where it needs to be. So the shocks do take in energy and don't return it by slowing the spring travel down. In something like off road Baha 1000 racing they do get very hot and have remote reservoirs but on a street car there is very little heat which to me would mean very little energy to gain.
I would think if you are adding some kind of generator to capture wasted energy, look at where there is heat. The brakes have been figured out with regen braking. On an ICE there is much more to be gained in the cooling system and exhaust, but even an EV there is a battery cooling system that is wasting heat and I bet the motors make more heat than the shocks too.
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Yes it isn't much Hersbird.
But it is a theoretical 7 to 10% improvement in fuel consumption according to the papers you didn't bother to look at.
BUT, most importantly;
It's linear mechanical motion, making it easy for DIYers to experiment with.
And, thanks to todays powerful magnets, one of the only places where doing so may well result in an improvement in the power to weight ratio of the vehicle IMHO.
ie; a real gain rather than just added complexity.
TECs on the exhaust is a wash as they are hugely inefficient, adding more weight and cost than they are worth.
(The solder melts if you move them up to the hotter end)
BMW's Turbo Steamer got 15% for the added complexity of dual high pressure steam engines.
(This works well on ships where there is a competent crew to monitor and maintain such systems.
It would work well on stationary engines and slow moving vehicles like Bulldozers etc too, until the inevitable deadly explosion caused by a Monkey Wrencher!)
Regen for EV's doesn't do much better % wise because of the low Power Density (as apposed to Energy Density) of batteries.
ie: For a given voltage battery pack they just cant be charged as fast as they need to be able to, to absorb more of the braking power.
Combining Super/Ultra Capacitors (high Power Density) with Batteries (high Energy Density) would go a very long way to improving matters, but it seems that somehow there just isn't a human alive today capable of producing a control system for said combo!?