Quote:
Originally Posted by Piwoslaw
How about "pop-up windmills", that spring up from your car when you apply the brakes? This turns your momentum into aerodynamic drag and then into electricity, instead of into heat. You would still have traditional brakes for lower speeds.
The cost and weigh of such a setup probably isn't worth it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
Regardless of where you place the turbine, the end result will be a net energy loss. There's no free lunch.
The exception would be a turbine which is somehow shielded from the airflow (and where the shield does not negatively affect aerodynamics) but which can pop up into the airflow for the purpose of decelerating. Think: aerodynamic regenerative braking.
Not very efficient, of course (compared to electro mechanical or hydraulic regen).
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You know, the Bugatti Veyron has an air brake: when the brakes are applied, the spoiler tilts forward. Last week's Top Gear illustrated this (if you're not in the UK, there are plenty of ways to watch it online).
Still, however, I tend to agree that there would be some cost/weight/complexity/aero penalty no matter what.
Someone who's handy with hydraulic systems could probably make something that piggybacks onto a car's brake line circuit, however.
Failing that, one could conceal a turbine-powered generator inside the car, with Naca ducts as inlets and outlets, with simple flaps that open and close via vacuum or brake lines. There would be minimal aero penalty, and it would be slightly simpler to engineer.