Michelin sells tires, not cars. But its engineers occasionally build some. And at the recent Challenge Bibendum 2004, held in Shanghai, China, the company introduced two models, according to this article from the Detroit News. While the CONCEPT demonstrates the multiple benefits of electric power, the other concept car, the Hy-Light, is a light vehicle that weighs just 850 kg and is fuel cell propelled. Besides being an almost pollution-free car, the Hy-Light integrates active wheels. The idea is remarkably simple. There is plenty of empty space in a tire, so why not fill it with something useful? So the active wheels of the Hy-Light contain a traction motor to turn the wheel and all suspension components such as springs. Michelin intends to share this technology with car makers and expects it should be integrated in our cars within ten to fifteen tears. Read more...
Please read the Detroit News article for more details. And let's focus on the wheels of the Hy-Light concept car.
A wheel equipped with Michelin's active wheel technology appears from the outside to be a standard wheel and tire package. But on the inside, there are springs and electric motors and other electromechanical components and connections, all packaged within the circumference of the wheel and tire.
Electric motors not only turn the wheels, but can be used to slow and stop them, so traditional disc or drum brakes might eventually be eliminated, or at least reduced to smaller, redundant systems. And by using electric motors to turn the wheels, large and heavy transmissions and differentials become obsolete.
With Michelin's active wheel system, vehicle designers could become more creative because suspension components that now intrude on interior space would be repackaged within each of the vehicle's four wheels, creating more room for people and cargo.
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Here is a photograph of one of the active wheels of Michelin's Hy-Light concept car (Credit: Larry Edsall, for The Detroit News). The wheel contains a traction motor to turn the wheel and all suspension components. |
Besides its wheels, the Hy-Light concept (no puns intended!) of this almost pollution-free car is appealing.
The Hy-Light is a front-wheel-drive vehicle with traction motors in the wheels powered by a hydrogen fuel cell that also supplies electrical power for the four-wheel chassis stability system.
Michelin says Hi-Light is an example of the non-polluting vehicle-it runs on hydrogen produced by electrolysis using solar cells- which might be practical by around 2020.
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This illustration shows why the Michelin's Hy-Light concept car will be almost pollution-free. (Credit: Michelin) |
For more information about this concept car, please visit these pages on the sites of Michelin, Challenge Bibendum, Hydrogen Now! or Hydrogen Forecast.
Sources: Larry Edsall, for The Detroit News, October 19, 2004; and various websites
6:18:06 PM
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