Ford to Explore Wind Turbines on Car Roofs
Most solutions for the clean cars of the future focus on plug-in electric vehicles, fuel cells, biofuels or hydrogen. Last month, Ford added a twist to this mix when it agreed to look at a wind turbine and generator system for motor vehicles invented by Edward Deets (see CitizensVoice.com article).
Deets owns U.S. Patent No. 7,135,786 (’786 patent), which covers a wind-driven generator that can use wind power to charge the battery that runs an electric motor. The ‘786 patent describes an enclosure with controllable shrouds (16) that can open and close to channel air to turbine (18).
The rotational energy of the turbine causes an alternator or generator to generate electricity, which charges the storage battery (52). A regulator (50) prevents overcharging of the battery.
According to the CitizensVoice article, Deets, who has a pilot license, was inspired by the use of wind to run electric motors on older airplane models.
Deets and Ford aren’t the only ones exploring the possibility of tapping different renewable energy sources for cars - Sunrise Solar is making a solar-collecting sunroof that could charge a battery or power a vehicle’s air conditioner.
September 18th, 2008 at 16:01
I can’t believe the PTO let this issue–it’s a perpetual motion machine.
I also can’t believe Ford is seriously considering it.
I glanced at claim 1. It basically claims a wind powered turbine generator mounted on the roof of an electric car, so that the generator generates electricity to recharge the car’s battery when the car is in motion. There are movable slats to selectably direct airflow around the turbine.
Clearly, the electrical power generated will be less that the electrical power needed to overcome the aerondynamic drag of the turbine and housing.
“In this house, we obey the laws of thermodynamics!”
September 20th, 2008 at 17:12
A patent like this can/will be approved by the USPTO because it is not technically a perpetual motion machine. In other words, it is a device that charges the batteries from wind. Technically this will work. On the other hand, the inventor’s likely underlying intention to have the car go forever will not work. But this perpetual motion “intention” is not what has been patented.
As usual, the USPTO does not evaluate how efficient an idea is. They will only reject an idea that clearly does not work. Once again, this invention probably does work - just not as well as the inventor would hope!
Rich Goldstein
Registered Patent Attorney
goldstein@goldsteinpc.com
September 25th, 2008 at 16:01
This is absolutely ridiculous. Ford must be really embarrassed by this (assuming they’ve realized their mistake at this point).
September 27th, 2008 at 17:32
I don’t think ford has agreed to look at it.
If you read the original article carefully, it says that the inventor “sent it off to the Ford Motor Co. two weeks ago. Now he will wait for the company’s engineers to review the plans.”
I don’t see anything there that confirms that they will do anything but throw it in the circular file.
September 29th, 2008 at 07:11
It is unlikely that this invention will be adopted by car manufacturers. Driving electric cars charged with wind power on the grid is more efficient. But, wind powered vehicles do exist. In August 208 a race with wind powered vehicles driving against the wind has been held. The so called Aeolus race was organised by Wind Energy Events. A clear overview of the participants with pictures of the cars can be viewed at http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/08/six-or-seven-ways-wind-powers-vehicles.php
October 29th, 2008 at 09:11
I looked into this design after initially reading this blog and it’s as real as it gets. What a great way to re-charge a battery. You literally have to drive and the battery will continuously charge itself in increments. My only issues with it so far are minor compared to the entire concept. They include the weight of the wind-powered generator (so it doesn’t collapse into the car’s cabin), the size (since it is a bit bulky), and having to use a service like Lo-Jack in case it gets stolen (because it is an attachment to the car, not fully-integrated into the car’s design…yet). Other than that, I think that it will work successfully. I also looked into the solar-collecting sunroof. Although it would be more expensive and the charge time isn’t as fast, it’s actually more feasible for now because of weight-to-mass ratio of the tiles. Either way, I would love to see both of these concepts work their way up to the point that companies will in fact start manufacturing them for consumer. Brilliant!
November 4th, 2008 at 00:11
Couldn’t the whole system be implemented under the hood of the car by using air vents such as ones used in a turbo-compressor? I guess you would run into spacial issues, but I think they could be overcome. Like for instance, using air vents in the back of the car like many rear engine sports cars. Also, this invention is not a perpetual motion machine but it does help increase the overall efficiency of the vehicle in theory, since you are using loss of energy in drag to produce a current and store energy. Anyways, intriguing concept.
November 18th, 2008 at 11:26
The idea seems impractical, especially if the wind turbine is so small. But some ships now carry wind turbines for running auxiliary machinery while the ship is moving. I have been told by an engineer that they can produce a net energy gain, although I don’t know how much, and on which headings relative to the wind.
Windmill land yachts can propel themselves directly into the wind, but typically at only about half the speed of the wind, and the record, for a special purpose model, is one times the speed of the wind under ideal conditions. The speed in all direction for a windmill vehicle or boat is about the same.
So the calculations are complex when it comes to deciding whether a wind turbine on a motor driven vehicle will yeild a net energy gain. The most important consideration, as usual, would be how windy the area is where the vehicle would be driven. There would be only a net energy loss (due to drag) if the wind were not blowing and the vehicle were moving.
It is important to note that if a vehicle uses a sail to propel it, and then accumulates energy by using one of the wheels to spin a generator, then the vehicle is functioning as a linear windmill. For light vehicles, perhaps on elevated tracks, this might prove to be a practical way to make use of windmills on vehicles. However, the most practical option still seems to be to use a stationary windmill to charge a vehicles battery and/or super capacitor, or to propel a tracked vehicle directly with the electricity.
December 26th, 2008 at 02:42
I do not see any problems if the car is hybrid. Using wind to recharge batteries and using engine generation electricity while the car is idle to recharge batteries should definitely reduce (not eliminate) reliance on carbon fuel.
Option 2:
Perhaps if this is not efficient then someone should invent machine where electricity generated by wind due to movement of the car is stored in a battery. Once the battery is fully charged it could be taken to a service station where one can transfer the electricity back to the grid for an amount or discount card which the person can utilize to fill their cars with normal fuel. The advantage of this is that any existing car can be converted to have such a machine installed. You do not need a hybrid car. The potential of it is realised in the economies of scale. Imagine millions of car fitted with this can create wonders. Ultimately our power stations would have to rely less on the carbon fuel.
The idea sounds crazy but it is a paradox worth exploiting. After all where there is will (wheel) there is way.
January 13th, 2009 at 18:08
My name is paul omalley,
I am a 22 year old wit to much time on my hands which has set the cogs in
my head into motion and I agree wit greener cars but I believe the problem is
Being looked at the wrong way. There are many moving parts in a car and
many go round and round like for instance the parts in the engine of the mazda rx8,
but it would be difficult to use this part of the car to turn a turbine and seing
as this type of engine uses a not so renuable energy sauce it kind of defeats the object.
How ever I see a car as being a vehicle with 2 axles one at the front and one at
The bcak of the car. Would it not be possible to put the whole thing under the car on
A smaler scale bu instead of using wind to make the turbine spin use the rear axle ?
I would like to hear from any one about things they like about the idea or any faults
Pleare dnt hesitate to e-mail me wit your thoughts an views
February 17th, 2009 at 12:47
Nice post! Im try to convert the world to windpower - Save the world, check: http://windpowerdiy.blogspot.com/
March 15th, 2009 at 08:29
Imagine this hunk of junk strapped to roof gave birth to dozens of offspring that are integrated into,….oh idunno the door panels essentially concealing these miniature versions. Maybe it’s just me, but Chevy is introducing the Volt next year and I’m planning on taking Mr. Deets’ idea down the same road the hydrogen fuel cell traveled–besides what if this is a viable invention. On a sidenote, I was surfing the web to find out about patents and designs of what I believed was MY idea to learn someone beat me to it.
March 16th, 2009 at 22:04
How To Run A Car On Water…
Where are your related posts?…
March 26th, 2009 at 19:37
Yes this invention does work or will work i have drawn up this same
concept, and just to find out someone peeked in on my dream, and
stole my idea, there goes my million. Lol good luck.
March 29th, 2009 at 10:58
What about a wind turbine that only activates during braking when the increased drag is useful to both conserve the brakes and provide supplemental energy generation? Or, even better would be to capture the energy used from braking itself. Any ideas?
April 8th, 2009 at 09:17
Not such a nutty idea. Think of a company with a huge vehicle fleet like UPS, or a freight railroad… store the energy into cells mounted on the vechiles.
At night plug into the grid for credit from the utility company, or run a warehouse from the stored energy cells.
On any given work day, for example UPS runs 10,000’s of miles. There is so much untapped potentional energy right there.
April 8th, 2009 at 09:38
opps, for got to add -
Think of a long distance freight train, mount a small turbine on each freight car.
100 freight cars, 1,000 miles = a lot of energy, this is for one single route. After running this for a year would make a huge difference.
July 1st, 2009 at 18:10
I thought of the same idea as anonymous.
” Imagine this hunk of junk strapped to roof gave birth to dozens of offspring that are integrated into,….oh idunno the door panels essentially concealing these miniature versions.”
However, I would conceal them in the door panels, on the roof, and anywhere else that one could take advantage of the wind.. In addition, one should utilize the breaking recharging system and solar at the same time. Why not think of more than just one way of charging at once?
July 13th, 2009 at 10:35
Wind power is not a solution. The whole truth about wind turbines is never told by lobbyists and governments.
How could the very weak and extremely unreliable initial energy source of a wind turbine ever produce a steady power of any significance?
Please think!
And read: “Wind energy- the whole truth” at: Wind energy- the whole truth.
And for green jobs creation in relation to renewable energy read:
Study of the effects on employment of public aid to renewable energy sources.
August 2nd, 2009 at 09:39
This has got to be a joke, I mean really? Who is going to drive around with that thing on their roof!
January 28th, 2010 at 07:46
seems like the basis of a good idea. Phones and computers when first thought of were massive and ugly but in time they become easy to manage and looked smart. All we have to do now is thing of a way to do that with these wind turbines. Never knock a good idea because it always comes back on you.
February 9th, 2010 at 13:59
I’ve been looking at the Smart Car and Honda’s lineup.It’s a fairly tough choice, I live in a somewhat small town and work within 1 mile of my house. The convienence of the Prius makes it a nice choice, but is it necessarily better than the smart car? My main issue with the smart car is its length and weight imagine getting hit by a truck you are practically history! What are your thoughts?