Future car: A magnet-powered hamster wheel?

July 2, 2009 | Camille Ricketts | Comments | |

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Magnets very rarely come up in serious renewable energy discussions. But why? It doesn’t get more zero-emission than that! At least that’s the thought behind car designer Harsha Vardhan’s new Transporter TW: an electric vehicle propelled by magnetic fields.

The single-passenger car is technically electric — just like the Tesla Roadster or the impending Chevy Volt — but its electric engine drives magnetic fields instead of tires. Now why would that be advantageous — besides looking exactly as futuristic as people in the 80s thought things would? Apparently, according to Vardhan, the resulting ride would be whisper-quiet, incredibly smooth, and of course completely green.

The two gigantic wheels pictured above are actually filled with superconducting fluid, generating constantly-shifting magnetic fields that work to turn the wheels. They rotate around a small back-entry cockpit, complete with swivel chair and steering mechanism that looks like you could jump to hyperspeed at any moment.

A lot of people grumble when they see concept cars like this, thinking they’re a waste of time when there’s no way they’ll ever hit the road. But it seems like magnetic technology could be adapted to further electric vehicle innovations that have a chance of making it to market — clever Star Wars jokes aside.

[Image courtesy of Ecofriend. Click the link to see more.]

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About the Author, Camille Ricketts

Camille is the lead writer for GreenBeat. She came to VentureBeat from Google where she worked on its traditional platforms team, particularly in TV. Before that, she was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal in New York and London. Follow her on Twitter at @camillericketts, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.

With GreenBeat 2009, VentureBeat's all-star conference on all things Smart Grid, coming up in November, Camille will be expanding coverage of this exciting space. Stay up to date by following @greenbeat2009 on Twitter or by becoming a fan of the event on Facebook here.

  • Sure... but too bad the "science" behind it is based in less reality than the aforementioned Star Wars. This vehicle can't exist.
  • theBike45
    What's so damn green about it? It still uses electricty, doesn't it? Electricity, in case you have been living on Mars, is produced by fossil fuel.
  • Magnet Mogul
    This is odd... Most of the mention of magnets that I've seen in the cleantech space has been by crackpots that don't understand that a magnet is very similar to a spring. It stores energy - it doesn't generate it. An electric motor - in every electric vehicle - uses a magnetic field. However, the original energy source is electricity, and 50% of the electric grid in the US is...coal.
  • I admit, it may not be on the green side of things. I guess the claim that it would run whisper-quiet could factor in a few points but I can't help but wonder if its efficiency would better compared to a normal 4 wheel electric car? The concept may seem far-fetched by some, but.... you have to admit... it looks pretty darn cool!
  • don11
    I like the version in the South Park episode better. Seems a lot more fun.
  • GOPer
    I for one welcome our Sith overlords!
  • Miramon
    Good luck shielding the magnetic fields away from electronics and humans. And that doesn't look like an example of 80s design. It looks more like 30s design to me.