New Energy’s Technology for Generating Electricity from Motion of Heavy Vehicles Doubles Energy Capture

New Energy Technologies, Inc., a next-generation alternative and renewable energy developer, announced that engineers developing the company’s commercial-scale MotionPower-Heavy device for generating electricity from the movement of heavy trucks, buses, and long haul rigs have made significant breakthroughs in refinement of the technology, including a two-fold increase in its capacity to capture kinetic energy from moving vehicles – the most important factor in maximizing the amount of electricity generated by the system.

Kinetic energy is present in a moving vehicle, much like the energy present in a bicycle, which may sometimes continue to ‘roll’ even though it’s no longer being peddled by the rider. Heavy-duty trucks have up to 25 times more kinetic energy than a typical car traveling at the same speed. New Energy’s MotionPower-Heavy technology is designed to capture this kinetic energy when heavy vehicles come to a stop, and subsequently convert this otherwise unused energy into valuable electricity.

“In order to maximize the electricity generated by our MotionPower systems, engineers have been working to creatively increase the amount of kinetic energy captured from vehicles while minimizing payload disruption and maintaining driver safety and passenger comfort,” explained Meetesh V. Patel, president and CEO of New Energy Technologies, Inc.

“As a result, several weeks ago, engineering teams developing our MotionPower-Auto technology for cars and light trucks achieved a 25-fold increase in energy capture, and today, I’m proud to announce that engineers have now doubled the energy captured by our fluid-driven, Motion-Power-Heavy technology for heavy trucks, buses, and long haul rigs.”

New Energy’s proprietary MotionPower-Heavy technology is a fluid-based system, uniquely capable of drawing significant amounts of energy from a single vehicle without jarring its payload or creating passenger discomfort. The efficient transfer of energy from heavy vehicles to the MotionPower-Heavy system ensures greater electricity production and adoption of the device, currently under development.

Following a series of successful small-scale prototype tests of its MotionPower-Heavy technology, New Energy recently announced plans to build a commercial-scale system for generating electricity from the motion of heavy vehicles. Since then, engineers have begun design and construction of a field-ready prototype, achieving several significant improvements. Advancements to the field prototype address numerous requirements of an unattended system, including safety and tamper-resistant mechanisms, and increased performance of the vehicle energy harvester.

Safety features of the field prototype include improved driver perception of the device, ensuring a greater degree of safety. Engineers have also reduced the vertical height of the system by 20%, an important feature for field testing which requires a non-embedded, above-road system. The slimmer profile serves to reduce the need for entry and exit transition ramps, resulting in a smoother drive over the system. The field prototype also features contiguous driving surfaces, which visually blend the system with the roadway and eliminate gaps, openings, or edges that could otherwise present safety or reliability issues.