Remote Hybrid Helper Could Turn Any Car into a Hybrid
As a biker, I see hills as a bit of an enemy. On the way up, it's certainly less than fun. On the way down, well, it can be exciting, but not necessarily safe. But it would certainly be worse if I weighed several dozen tons...
For truckers, hills and mountains are a colossal waste of energy. It requires quite a bit of effort to haul a full load up a hill, only to take more effort trying to slow the truck down on the other side. With all that kinetic energy going into the truck’s brakes, you’d be right to think there is a neat way to capitalize on the situation.
The Remote Hybrid Helper is a new system that would attach itself to the back of the trailer to help it up hills, and capture braking energy on the way back down. With it’s own batteries and electric motors, the pusher would assist the trailer up the hill and then use massive battery packs to capture energy generated by "falling" down the hill.
The neatest thing about this concept, however, is that the remote hybrid helper (RHH) is not just a box that you’re expected to tow around behind your truck forever. The RHH will actually drive itself around, tracking down trucks that need assistance, coupling with them, giving a helpful push, then regen-braking down the hill before find another victim. One could imagine these things flying up and down mountain passes, linking up with trucks on either side all day long. Certainly a weird idea to conceptualize, but something that would work incredibly well to cut down on emissions and improve efficiency in trucking.
Via AutoBlogGreen