Car levitates thanks to magnets: Video like a science fiction scene
Created: 09/18/2022, 04:52
By: Marcus Efler
A car in limbo: Chinese researchers use magnet technology to let a car fly across the street.
The proof video is available on Twitter.
Saving energy is important for all cars, and especially for those with electric drive: every watt saved increases the range a little more.
Aerodynamicists and designers are tinkering with the lowest possible cd values and slim front surfaces to ensure efficient use of the current.
Take off: The test car hovers a few centimeters above the road.
© Twitter (QinduoXu)
Car levitates thanks to magnets: Video like a science fiction scene
But in addition to the resistance of the airstream, there is another factor that has a decisive influence on energy consumption: the rolling resistance of the wheels on the road.
This is particularly high for car tires, which have to adhere securely to the asphalt, but is significantly lower for conventional railways with their steel-on-rail principle - and does not exist at all for Transrapid technology, in which the trains use magnetic Technology hovering over the road.
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While this forward-looking principle was unfortunately thwarted in Germany, it is being pursued in China with the Maglev super train, which can reach speeds of up to 600 km/h.
Researchers at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu in China's south-western province of Sichuan asked themselves why not use its technology in cars as well.
Car levitates thanks to magnets – and electric rails in the street
And so they mounted the maglev drive technology in a conventional car as a test. They also laid power rails in the street, as the Chinese news agency Xinhua reports.
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And above them, the 2.8-ton car actually moved forward while hovering about four centimeters in the air.
It's a bit reminiscent of the DeLorean from the iconic sci-fi series Back to the Future (which will be relaunched as an electric car).
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The corresponding proof video can be seen on Twitter:
The whole construction still seems a bit wobbly and bouncy, and the ride through the air only covered a few meters.
But the principle seems to work.
It is not known how much energy the hover state consumes and whether it is more economical than normal wheels with traction.
After all, the electricity required for this does not have to be carried in batteries in the car, but flows through the rails like an underground train.
But it's probably best not to step on them.
