In the future, BMW could generate additional energy from potholes and bumps to power electric cars. This emerges from a new patent from the Bavarian premium carmaker, which the portal Car Buzz discovered at the German patent office.
The paper describes a new suspension design that generates power from the vertical motion of a vehicle’s wheels as it negotiates bumps in the road. According to the report, the new technology will be used in one of the BMW Group’s electrified flagship models.
As of this year, BMW is offering the 7 Series luxury sedan for the first time in a fully electric version, as well as a partially electric plug-in hybrid version. The same goes for next year’s 5 Series. In addition to electric midsize and compact cars, the Bavarians also have the large battery-powered SUV iX in their range, which could also be described as a flagship. It remains to be seen which of the models will get the new power generation technology from the bumps in the road. An assignment at the luxury subsidiary Rolls-Royce is also conceivable.
With the transition to electric drive, the question of efficiency becomes more and more important. In addition to technologies such as “navigation” – the drive is decoupled to allow the vehicle to continue rolling with less resistance – the recovery of energy that would otherwise be lost: new electric cars usually make extensive use of so-called recovery, in which the drive motor starts during deceleration or braking acts as a generator and generates electricity.
It is not known in what time frame the new BMW technology for energy generation while driving series vehicles could be realized. Car Buzz assumes it won’t be a cost-effective solution due to the relatively complex effect of the technology.
