Novel car body stores electricity
The biggest handicap with electric cars is still the lack of range. With a new type of body, the range is now to be increased by a whole 25 percent. In addition, this car body can also store electricity.
Scientists at the University of Florida have developed a new type of electricity storage system for electric cars: The electricity is to be stored in the car body. For this purpose, the car shell was designed to function like a capacitor consisting of several layers of carbon fibre. The electricity that is produced during braking is stored. This could replace the often heavy battery in electric cars. Another important advantage of the new composite material is its low weight.
This would also solve the problem of tyre wear, at least partially. E-cars often weigh more than petrol cars because of their heavy battery inside the vehicle, which means that the abrasion of the tyres while driving is correspondingly higher. So any reduction in weight also means less particulate matter in the air. A body that, in the best case, replaces the entire battery would make the car much lighter again. If the body is also combined with a device on the tyre that sucks up and collects the abrasion directly, a major problem in the conversion from combustion engine to electric would be solved.
The material of the new car body is just as strong and resistant as steel. Moreover, the materials of the car shell do not catch fire in the event of an accident because they are not flammable. Another advantage is the high amount of energy that can be released. This distinguishes them from batteries, which only emit current at a steady rate. The increased current output therefore also enables high accelerations, which is not quite so easy with batteries. In addition, the capacitors can be charged and discharged ten times more often than conventional batteries.
Another possible use for the material is in space travel. Small satellites could be sent into space with a lightweight shell instead of a heavy battery, making the missiles considerably cheaper. The space saved could be used to install further measurement technology.
However, it will probably be some time before such a body actually goes into series production and drives on our roads. In the meantime, the only way to reduce the heavy tyre wear is to drive particularly light e-cars.