Flybus consortium puts the brakes on energy waste, throws it back to the asphalt

For anyone who’s logged time city bus surfing, you know there’s a heckuva lot of power in those screechy stops and starts. So, it stands to reason there’d be a way to harness that kinetic energy and shuffle it right back to the auto, itself. Well, that’s exactly what the Flybus consortium aims to do with a prototype that uses a Ricardo Kinergy flywheel to store energy created from braking, and redistribute it via a continuously variable transmission. The hybrid setup is purportedly much cheaper to produce than current, pricier EV rigs, and would also go a long way towards reducing fuel costs for commercial vehicles. Gearheads eager for a peek at the group’s design can get a look-see when it’s shown off this month at the Low Carbon Vehicle event in the UK. For everyone else, there are the source links below. Flybus consortium puts the brakes on energy waste, throws it back to the asphalt originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 06:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Posted by on September 7, 2011. Filed under News, Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.