NEW TECHNOLOGY IMPROVES MILEAGE OF TODAY’S CARS & HARVESTS ENERGY FOR TOMORROW’S

Tire Technology Recovers Energy Normally Lost Through Friction, Increases Gas Mileage By 10 Percent

Researchers at University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a nanogenerator that will help boost gas mileage now while improving the range of electronic vehicles in the future. By harnessing energy from rolling tires, the technology reuses energy normally lost through fiction. According to Xudong Wang, an associate professor of materials science and engineering at UW-Madison, friction between the tire and the ground consumes about ten percent of a vehicle’s fuel. By converting this lost energy instead, fuel efficiency is greatly improved. Using the triboelectric effect in order to harness energy from the changing electric potential between the pavement and a vehicle’s wheels, the nanogenerator functions by means of an electrode placed in a piece of the tire. That part of the tire then strikes the ground and creates an electrical charge through the friction between the two surfaces as the tire rolls.

The system was first tested with a toy remote car outfitted with LED lights and electrodes applied to the tires. As the tires struck the ground, the energy captured would turn the LEDs on, effectively demonstrating that energy lost through friction can be collected and reused. It was found that the amount of energy that can be harnessed is directly related to the weight of the car and its speed, which means that the level of energy captured will vary between cars and how they’re driven. Each vehicle, though, should still see an increase of 10 percent in gas mileage on average. Speaking of innovative tires, the X Tweel Airless Tire from Michelin merges the strength’s of both solid and pneumatic tires, and lasts up to 3 times longer than a similar pneumatic tire.