Bumpy roads are a familiar grievance for any driver, and if you aren’t careful to avoid them or slow down in time, they can do some serious damage to your vehicle. But what if bumps in the road could be turned into something positive? It seems BMW has set out to do exactly that.
Easier this week, a new patent filed with the German patent office indicates that BMW is working on a new suspension system — more specifically, its a suspension system designed to harvest energy from an EVs wheel movement as it absorbs the shock from a bump. In other words, as your car absorbs the impact from bumpy terrain, it can repurpose that energy into usable electricity.
Read more: BMW to invest US$1.7b for US battery, EV production
According to the filing, the suspension system will capture energy generated while the wheel moves in reaction to driving over a bump. That energy is then sent to a generator unit that converts it to usable electricity to charge the EV battery.
While this technology remains in its infancy for now, this is incredibly exciting news for the EV world, as automakers race against the clock to extend EV range and pacify consumer hesitation towards going electric. As you might have guessed, this concept could be a complete game changer for the industry.
As BMW rolls out the highly anticipated i7 (the automaker’s first fully electric 7-Series model), we can’t help but wonder, will this feature eventually be included?
