Hover cars, the future
Discussion
Having thought about how we can try to be more green, I was thinking, how about we make the roads magnetic, then instead of wheels and tyres, have flat, opposing polarity, magnets in the wheel arches!!
We would then essentially hover down the road, and could utilise a fan for drive. This would surely be massively efficient as you wouldn't need to overcome the friction associated with tyres. It would be really good for drifting too, and would reduce pedestrian injuries as there would be no wheel to go under if run over (although the fan might cause a few haircut issues).
I haven't thought about how to stop or steer yet as the idea just came to me in a brilliant flash of light, and I knew it was so good I had to put it in writing, so that bit will follow, but we could just reverse the polarity slightly, which in theory would slow the car down, maybe.
Steering could be more difficult, as a sort of aeroplane style fin isn't accurate enough, and requires you to be going fast to use. Maybe again we could start applying a small reverse polarity on one side to pull the car in that direction.
Got to be better than electric cars, and by my rough calculations we would save up to 40% of the worlds fuel by doing this, though have no foundation for that fact.
We would then essentially hover down the road, and could utilise a fan for drive. This would surely be massively efficient as you wouldn't need to overcome the friction associated with tyres. It would be really good for drifting too, and would reduce pedestrian injuries as there would be no wheel to go under if run over (although the fan might cause a few haircut issues).
I haven't thought about how to stop or steer yet as the idea just came to me in a brilliant flash of light, and I knew it was so good I had to put it in writing, so that bit will follow, but we could just reverse the polarity slightly, which in theory would slow the car down, maybe.
Steering could be more difficult, as a sort of aeroplane style fin isn't accurate enough, and requires you to be going fast to use. Maybe again we could start applying a small reverse polarity on one side to pull the car in that direction.
Got to be better than electric cars, and by my rough calculations we would save up to 40% of the worlds fuel by doing this, though have no foundation for that fact.
What about the noise?Was just thinking, hills could be a real problem, as you may find you sort of swing around while going up them, and going down would be terrifying, but probably good fun too. I haven't developed an idea for hill starts yet, but then a ground breaking theory will take time to iron out.
Maybe an anchor?
Maybe an anchor?
jesta1865 said:
these are kind of fundamental really. i can imagine a lot of tail out action, much in the way hovercraft (the little ones) do 
Having no understanding about magnetism whatsoever, I have deduced that you can gradually reverse polarity, essentially making either all the magnets, or just one side (for steering), sort of magnetically stick more, that way slowing, and eventually stopping, the car.There is a small issue that also just came to me, that of "sticking" to other cars as they go past, though no, you'd both have to have the same polarity to hover, so you'd bounce away from eachother, so that's that problem solved at least.
As an anti-theft measure, when you park you simply reverse the polarity entirely and your car is magnetically stuck to your driveway or roadside parking.
Grimezy93 said:
Just build magnet rails into the road similar to train tracks and we just go down pre-determined routes? x)
In all serious though, think of the bad parking. How on earth would people park if they can't tell how close to the kerb they are without kerbing their alloy?!
I often wondered what happened to hover trains? They never seemed to take off though make perfect sense. I suppose my talent is taking a good idea and applying it to a different medium, in this case cars, and essentially creating a great idea, but I don't want to take all the credit, the inventor of the magnet is no doubt due some.In all serious though, think of the bad parking. How on earth would people park if they can't tell how close to the kerb they are without kerbing their alloy?!
Edit:
S10GTA said:
So basically similar to what they do with the Japanese trains then...
So they still use hover trains? I didn't realise, but it's still appears short sighted compared to what I am proposing.You can use linear motors for propulsion and steering. I daresay you can use big coils for levitation, rather than having the expense of rare-earth magnets.
Also means you don't need to go to all the trouble of making tracks/roads out of magnets, just long lengths of aluminium for propulsion. Not sure what you need to oppose the levitation coils though. Possibly more coils.
Actually, as a vague note of interest, the tracking camera used on speed skating at the winter olympics uses a linear motor built into the camera's carriage. The bed of the track is simply sheets of aluminium, which the motor uses to propel itself against. It goes like the clappers too, around 45 mph at it's top speed.
Also means you don't need to go to all the trouble of making tracks/roads out of magnets, just long lengths of aluminium for propulsion. Not sure what you need to oppose the levitation coils though. Possibly more coils.
Actually, as a vague note of interest, the tracking camera used on speed skating at the winter olympics uses a linear motor built into the camera's carriage. The bed of the track is simply sheets of aluminium, which the motor uses to propel itself against. It goes like the clappers too, around 45 mph at it's top speed.
Super Slo Mo said:
You can use linear motors for propulsion and steering. I daresay you can use big coils for levitation, rather than having the expense of rare-earth magnets.
Also means you don't need to go to all the trouble of making tracks/roads out of magnets, just long lengths of aluminium for propulsion. Not sure what you need to oppose the levitation coils though. Possibly more coils.
Just so we're clear, legally it's still my idea, I just didn't want to go into details about coils etc as I didn't want to confuse the layman readers.Also means you don't need to go to all the trouble of making tracks/roads out of magnets, just long lengths of aluminium for propulsion. Not sure what you need to oppose the levitation coils though. Possibly more coils.
Iklwa said:
Having thought about how we can try to be more green, I was thinking, how about we make the roads magnetic, then instead of wheels and tyres, have flat, opposing polarity, magnets in the wheel arches!!
We would then essentially hover down the road, and could utilise a fan for drive. This would surely be massively efficient as you wouldn't need to overcome the friction associated with tyres. It would be really good for drifting too, and would reduce pedestrian injuries as there would be no wheel to go under if run over (although the fan might cause a few haircut issues).
I haven't thought about how to stop or steer yet as the idea just came to me in a brilliant flash of light, and I knew it was so good I had to put it in writing, so that bit will follow, but we could just reverse the polarity slightly, which in theory would slow the car down, maybe.
Steering could be more difficult, as a sort of aeroplane style fin isn't accurate enough, and requires you to be going fast to use. Maybe again we could start applying a small reverse polarity on one side to pull the car in that direction.
Got to be better than electric cars, and by my rough calculations we would save up to 40% of the worlds fuel by doing this, though have no foundation for that fact.
Actually, despite my initial scepticism, I'm warming to this idea. The key to making it work though is to scrap trains. And underground trains. We would then essentially hover down the road, and could utilise a fan for drive. This would surely be massively efficient as you wouldn't need to overcome the friction associated with tyres. It would be really good for drifting too, and would reduce pedestrian injuries as there would be no wheel to go under if run over (although the fan might cause a few haircut issues).
I haven't thought about how to stop or steer yet as the idea just came to me in a brilliant flash of light, and I knew it was so good I had to put it in writing, so that bit will follow, but we could just reverse the polarity slightly, which in theory would slow the car down, maybe.
Steering could be more difficult, as a sort of aeroplane style fin isn't accurate enough, and requires you to be going fast to use. Maybe again we could start applying a small reverse polarity on one side to pull the car in that direction.
Got to be better than electric cars, and by my rough calculations we would save up to 40% of the worlds fuel by doing this, though have no foundation for that fact.
You keep your maglev car in the station car park, and drive it along the railway tracks. These are handily located to serve population and employment centres. Then in major towns and cities you just need to lay some strategically placed railway lines on main roads. In towns that have an underground, you drive your maglev car down to the underground station and along the underground train lines.
Stopping, steering and gradients are all minor details to be ironed out later.
Iklwa said:
So they still use hover trains? I didn't realise, but it's still appears short sighted compared to what I am proposing.
It's called maglev:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Maglev_Train
Greg66 said:
Stopping, steering and gradients are all minor details to be ironed out later.
My thoughts exactly, I don't imagine NASA went "well, we have this great big rocket, but we're just not sure how we will steer it, or make it stop to conduct a moon landing", or the inventor of parachuting went "I have this great idea!! I jump out a plane, and then something makes me float gently to Earth!! Wait, I'd better sort out the float to Earth bit before I jump", did he f*ck, he went up in the air, jumped out, and ironed it out along the way. Space travel and parachuting are both excellent means of transport that started with an idea the same way hover cars has.Iklwa said:
Having thought about how we can try to be more green, I was thinking, how about we make the roads magnetic, then instead of wheels and tyres, have flat, opposing polarity, magnets in the wheel arches!!
We would then essentially hover down the road, and could utilise a fan for drive. This would surely be massively efficient as you wouldn't need to overcome the friction associated with tyres. It would be really good for drifting too, and would reduce pedestrian injuries as there would be no wheel to go under if run over (although the fan might cause a few haircut issues).
I haven't thought about how to stop or steer yet as the idea just came to me in a brilliant flash of light, and I knew it was so good I had to put it in writing, so that bit will follow, but we could just reverse the polarity slightly, which in theory would slow the car down, maybe.
Steering could be more difficult, as a sort of aeroplane style fin isn't accurate enough, and requires you to be going fast to use. Maybe again we could start applying a small reverse polarity on one side to pull the car in that direction.
Got to be better than electric cars, and by my rough calculations we would save up to 40% of the worlds fuel by doing this, though have no foundation for that fact.
So let me get this correct. Your idea of being green is to basically scrap everything we have now and roll out an entirely new road network and vehicle type. That A) would mean you couldn't go abroad and B) would mean 'old' cars from abroad wouldn't be usable here.We would then essentially hover down the road, and could utilise a fan for drive. This would surely be massively efficient as you wouldn't need to overcome the friction associated with tyres. It would be really good for drifting too, and would reduce pedestrian injuries as there would be no wheel to go under if run over (although the fan might cause a few haircut issues).
I haven't thought about how to stop or steer yet as the idea just came to me in a brilliant flash of light, and I knew it was so good I had to put it in writing, so that bit will follow, but we could just reverse the polarity slightly, which in theory would slow the car down, maybe.
Steering could be more difficult, as a sort of aeroplane style fin isn't accurate enough, and requires you to be going fast to use. Maybe again we could start applying a small reverse polarity on one side to pull the car in that direction.
Got to be better than electric cars, and by my rough calculations we would save up to 40% of the worlds fuel by doing this, though have no foundation for that fact.
At a cost of several world economies to implement and likely ludicrous level of resources, I fail to see the logic of your idea
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