SEP 29

I can't imagine getting into an accident with a big car in a vehicle that weighs 132lbs. I'm pretty sure we'll never see these used in the city but it's a pretty cool idea. Maybe it could work for smaller applications like golf courses?

While improving efficiencies across several products simultaneously is always best, I think this particular area (inductive power) is a waste of time. We need better storage capacitors and batteries, lighter car bodies etc. Inductive wastes energy. While im no scientist but I would assume the electricity wasted to run the vehicles would be equal to the energy lost hauling the battery around. Add in the extra cost for roads, near impossible electric usage tracking, and general harder maintenance on the roads, and i think you have a losing combination.

Even in places like college or small communities it doesn't make sense. Just use a nev.

On the surface inductive is awesome, but I personally think its a waste, just like battery swapping...but thats another story

I'm sorry, but ride a frickin' bike. It weighs a tenth what that "super-lightweight" car does, and doesn't require mindbogglingly huge investment in infrastructure.

Plus, I can't imagine the power transfer efficiency of this system is very impressive.

OK... it has many drawbacks, but if solar power was used to top up a roadside battery system then the problem of far-away power production and power loss over distance would be overcome.

It may look like a larger Scalextric car but so what? I doubt if the students have the near unlimited budget to take it further.

As far as I am concerned, well done the future designers/engineers of the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences!

oops! I meant to say 'pure' electric car, not 'pre-electric'

I already have a pre-electric car. (So did Fred Flintstone!)

The concept is not new, and it is used by transit railcars of Bambardier http://www.bombardier.com/en/t...-operation and proven not to be energy wasteful at all; on the contrary it saves on energy as compared to conventional systems. In fact I am involved in a project that deals with EVs. of unique architecture running on similar systems. besides many other novel features. Please openhttps://sitecreator.directnic.com/websites/71779_info.ev-motion.com/3.html

Fossil fuels are going to prohibitively expensive soon enough, battery cars are way too expensive and there are not enough recharging stations for the foreseeable future.

What do we do?

That the US is in major economic decline is beyond dispute and that there is an increasing number of unemployed, illegal immigrants and an ever increasing prison population is also beyond dispute. Why can't we put this increasing and underutilized resource to good use in generating clean electricity and transportation?

Staged gangs operating a system of federated treadmills can generate sufficient power for a local community. The gangs would operate in shifts to ensure efficiency.

Instead of Scalextric automobiles for local transport why not deploy rickshaws? Countries like India, Indonesia and Pakistan have demonstrated how well human powered transportation can work. I am sure that using good old American ingenuity and composite materials technology we can design stronger and lighter rickshaws and perhaps even develop a large export market for them.

In a closed system this could be ideal. Think warehouses and manufacturing plants. Efficiency would be increased if all carts and vehicles could move about somewhat freely but be powered by a system that makes it so they seldom would have to be off line recharging or gassing up. The vehicle could have a bit of back up battery to keep it mobile within a very limited range of the complex requiring much less battery. The system, if in manufacturing, could even potentially be run off of waste heat.

Also more isolated cities that are up and coming could potentially use this system...because there is nothing that says traditional combustion vehicles could not also use the roads... especially if these places had a lot of sun or wind or waves to help power a grid...or even something pressure sensitive in the roads to make it power itself.

I'm reminded of telephones and cell phones and how a couple of cities in Africa my friend was researching didn't really have telephone infrastructure developed yet...and were ready for remote talking technology... so they just leapfrogged and went cellular completely skipping the cost of traditional line infrastructure. why couldn't a community that was just being built up go from dirt roads to imbedded technology roads if it meant saving huge money on petroleum costs and green credits?

I'm tired of naysayers just poo-pooing a clever idea in its infancy because they themselves can't see the potential or green or utility or quick return cost savings! Besides, why shouldn't we be excited for our college students developing, building, and demonstrating a fairly novel concept in transportation technology. I mean if that was my child or cousin, I'd think thanksgiving would have some pretty interesting discussions vs. a more typical college creation of say a secondary research paper done for the sake of showing a student can write a paper.

weather this is the best idea for the future of transportation, weather it's truly viable is an other question but in particular applications, why the heck not? Maybe developing track that is very easy to lay or retrofit is the sweet spot of the deal now that the concept is demonstrated. I mean heck we don't even NEED wheels. We could all get around on hover craft for car style mobility. then road refinishing would not even be that important. I mean car's are just horseless carriages. why can the next gen be wheel-less cars or cars that grab energy from a track etc. think of the weight issues solved if you didn't even need wheels? and someone is reading this saying the power differential necessary to lift xyz this high would require too much output to be green instead of just grooving on the idea these students came up with.

I agree with Sarah that this could be a great idea for closed systems. Not sure if it could also be used for railroads, etc.?
Anyways, I think the headline is misleading; while it is an electric vehicle, it is no car.

More good info here.....I'll be back!