The energy harvesting device focuses on the car’s suspension – specifically, the shock absorbers.

Boosting the fuel efficiency of motor vehicles by “harvesting” the energy generated by their shock absorbers and feeding it back into batteries or electrical systems such as air conditioning has become a major goal in automotive engineering. A University of Huddersfield (UK) researcher has designed a new system and built a prototype that is ready for real-world testing.

After working on the mathematics, computational analysis, and design of the device, a full-size, ready-to-test prototype was built for installation in a heavy-duty vehicle. Harvested energy can be used for any auxiliary purpose in a vehicle, and in hybrids it could recharge the electric motor.

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