Car shock absorber energy storage

Can shock absorbers be used for energy harvesting and vehicle dynamics?

In the literature, researchers performed analyses of energy harvesting and vehicle dynamics by replacing conventional shock absorbers with RSA. The RSA can be installed for energy regeneration in all on-road vehicles; however, the amount of energy harvested depends on road conditions and vehicles.

Can regenerative shock absorbers power electric vehicles?

The vibration energy from vehicle suspension systems is always wasted in heat and can be utilized for useful purposes. Many researchers have designed various regenerative shock absorbers (RSA) to transform vibration energy into electrical energy that can charge electric vehicles’ batteries and power low-wattage devices.

Can regenerative shock absorbers extend the battery endurance of an EV?

Whereas existing regenerative shock absorbers mainly focus on the methods of energy harvesting, there is no such regenerative shock absorber for use in extended range EVs. In this paper, we present a novel high-efficiency energy regenerative shock absorber using supercapacitors that is applied to extend the battery endurance of an EV.

How does a hydraulic shock absorber work?

The conventional hydraulic shock absorber is responsible for absorbing vibration energy caused by uneven road excitations and maintaining the vehicle’s comfort and handling. Simultaneously, the vibration energy is wasted in the form of heat to the environment. RSA may transform vibration energy into electrical energy for later use.

Can energy harvesting shock absorbers be used in regenerative suspensions?

Regenerative suspensions with the energy harvesting shock absorber have gained tremendous attention in the past two decades as promising directions in vehicle research because of its potential to enable the suspension system not only providing enhanced dynamic performance but also converting the wasted vibration energy to electricity.

Do shock absorbers save energy?

Several studies reported that conventional shock absorbers are liable for 30% of energy dissipated at wheel systems, which is approximately 10% of the total vehicle fuel consumption (Abdelkareem et al. 2019). The RSA can recover waste vibration energy from the suspension system while reducing the vibrations (Cai and Zhu 2022).