objectives and market needs
- Reducing the CO2 consumption of electric vehicles – increasing system efficiency in electric commercial vehicles
- Increasing the range of electric vehicles
- Significant reduction in the operating costs of electric vehicles
- Significant reduction in the charging time of electric vehicles (with the same final range)
Problems / Challenges of E-Mobility
- Low range
- High electricity costs
- Long charging time
- High resource consumption
wheel generator
problem solving
- Reach:
- Range increase of up to 50% expected in the future development stage, depending on the vehicle
- Electricity costs:
- Lower charging costs due to reduction in external power requirements while maintaining the same range
- Charging time:
- Significant reduction in charging time with the same range requirement, since the charging range of the high-voltage battery only needs to be used within the high-current range
- Promotion of statutory climate protection targets (CO 2 savings potential):
wheel generator | construction
Generators housed in the wheels enable energy recovery during vehicle movement/deceleration.
Wheel generator | Technical data construction stage 2
Each wheel has the following characteristics:
- slight additional weight compared to a conventional 22“ aluminum wheel in the current prototype status
- Number of generators per wheel: 4 pcs.
- Number of levers per wheel: 12 pcs.
- Electric power per wheel: up to 3.5 kW (NV) / 6.1 kW (HV)
wheel generator | range increase
- Low-voltage operation with 4 generators:
- Generation of 9.4 kW of power in braking mode leads to energy savings of up to 20%
- High-voltage operation with 4 generators:
- Due to the better efficiency, energy savings increase to up to 30%
- Future high-voltage concept:
- Objective: Energy savings of up to 50%
wheel generator | electricity cost reduction
- Vehicle operation without wheel generator:
- A consumption of 20 kWh/100km leads to 12.00€ at 0.60€/kWh
- Low-voltage operation with 4 generators:
- Due to a 20% reduction in consumption, only 9.60€ of electricity needs to be charged for 100 km of electric range
- High-voltage operation with 4 generators:
- Due to a 30% reduction in consumption, only 8.40€ of electricity needs to be charged for 100 km of electric range
- Future high-voltage concept:
- Through further optimization, the electricity costs for 100 km of electric range can fall below 8.00€ with appropriate driving style
wheel generator | reduction of charging time
- Vehicle operation without wheel generator:
- Based on a charging cycle from 0 to 100% at a charging station, a charging time of 60 minutes is assumed for a vehicle without a wheel generator.
- Low-voltage operation with 4 generators:
- Reduction of the required charging window from 0 to 80% due to consumption reduced by up to 20%
- Reduction of charging time by approx. 50% by saving the slow charging area from 80 to 100% with the same range after charging
- High-voltage operation with 4 generators:
- Reduction of the required charging window from 10 to 80% due to consumption reduced by up to 30%
- Reduction of charging time by approx. 55% by saving the slow charging areas from 0 to 10% and from 80 to 100% with the same range after charging
- Future high-voltage concept:
- Reduction of charging time by up to 60% by saving the slow charging ranges between 0 and 10% and between 80 and 100% and additional saving of charging time in the fast charging range between 10 and 80% SOC with the same range after charging
Legal climate protection targets – status quo
a) Federal Climate Protection Act (KSG)
17.07.2024 – Entry into force of the climate protection amendment:
- Germany’s greenhouse gas neutrality brought forward to 2045
- Reduction of permissible annual emission levels for 2030
Urgent need for political action:
Promotion of transformation technologies within the framework of the Climate Protection Programme 2023 – “Federal Regulation on Transformation Technologies”
b) National Air Pollution Control Programme (NLRP)
According to the European directive “National Emissions Reductions Commitments Directive (NEC Directive 2016/2284/EU)” introduced in 2016, national emission ceilings and mandatory reduction targets for emissions of five air pollutants must be complied with.
Urgent need for political action:
There are currently no sufficient measures to achieve the limit values according to European specifications! According to the ruling of the Berlin-Brandenburg Higher Administrative Court of July 23, 2024 – Ref. No.: 11 A 16.20, the federal government is ordered to amend the NLRP!
c) Solution contribution wheel generator :
- No mere expansion of the storage capacity of the battery to increase the range and thus save the resources of metallic raw materials and rare earths such as cobalt, lithium, manganese, nickel and graphite
- Reduction of the greenhouse potential of electric vehicles by approx. 21 g CO 2 eq/km for the current high-voltage variant with a potential of up to 35 g CO 2 eq/km in the future technical implementation
- Global warming potential of compact car class 2020 without wheel generator:
Source: Ed.: Federal Environment Agency, Texts 13/2024, „Analysis of the environmental impact of motor vehicles with alternative drives or fuels on the way to greenhouse gas-neutral transport“
- Global warming potential of the compact car class in 2020 without RG and with the objective of a RG high-voltage, assuming a range increase of 50%:
Wheel generator | Test vehicle with wheel generator construction stage 2
wheel generator | measurement results
The wheel system on the test vehicle was able to provide proof of energy generation. The integration of the HV variant of the wheel system is in preparation
Wheel generator | Use in electric commercial vehicles
In electric commercial vehicles, the use of the wheel generator offers even greater advantages and thus further significant CO2 savings potential:
- Commercial vehicles are typically operated in a speed range of 30 to 80 km/h:
- This simplifies the electrical tuning of the system and leads to optimized system efficiency.
- This reduces the mechanical loads on the system because the centrifugal forces and loads are limited.
- Air resistance plays only a minor role in the interaction of consumers, which is why recuperation via the wheel generators has a particularly significant effect.
- The available space in the tire of a commercial vehicle is particularly suitable for accommodating the corresponding technology.
- There is sufficient space for battery technology in commercial vehicles.
- The high weight of commercial vehicles can be converted into energy to a particularly high degree, as a lot of flexing work occurs in the tires.
- Commercial vehicles are expensive to purchase, but their service life is designed to be 1,000,000 km or more; consequently, the wheel generator technology pays for itself quickly.
- Wheel generator technology now enables the efficient use of electric trucks, allowing the benefits of road toll reductions or exemptions in Germany, for example, to be exploited and contributing to the system’s amortization.
development potential
- Further increase in efficiency beyond 30%
- Weight and cost optimization in the course of industrialization
- Active influence on the suspension and damping properties of the tires
- increasing safety and travel comfort
- Improving communication between the wheel system and the vehicle systems
Market Outlook | Stock and Forecasts
The market prospects are determined by the cost-benefit aspect and the ecological need to reduce greenhouse gases. The potential basically includes all electric vehicles and thus opens up the following market:
- E-cars in Germany – new registrations in 2023: 524,219*
- E-cars in Germany – stock April 2024: 1,600,000
- E-trucks in Germany – stock in 2023: 68,312**
- E-buses in Germany – number in 2023: 2,464
- Cars with electric drive worldwide: approx. 14,500,000***
- E-vehicles – forecast for 2030 worldwide: 116,000,000 ****
* Source: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/244000/umfrage/neuzulassungen-von-elektroautos-in-deutschland/ and https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/265995/umfrage/anzahl-der-elektroautos-in-deutschland/
** Source: BT-Drucksache 20/9976
*** Source: Association of German Automotive Industry, https://www.vda.de/de/themen/elektromobilitaet/ marktentwicklung-europa-international
**** Source: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1261909/umfrage/anzahl-der-weltweiten-elektrofahrzeuge/
Market prospects | Costs and benefits
Even if the ecological necessity for using the wheel generator, as already prescribed by law, outweighs this, there is also the economic cost-benefit calculation, whereby two options must be distinguished here, each of which assumes costs of approximately € 1,500.00 per wheel system.
Option 1: Reducing the size of the electric vehicle’s battery while maintaining the current range, by compensating for the battery reduction by increasing the range of the wheel generator. The costs of the 4 wheel generator systems are already offset by the savings due to the smaller battery and additional savings are achieved through the electricity savings
Option 2: By retaining the electric vehicle’s battery, the range increase is in addition to the previously achievable range. The costs of a wheel generator system are amortized after approx. 17,000 km simply through the electricity savings with a high-voltage design, based on charging costs at external charging stations of 60 cents/kWh
patent protection
Our technology is protected by patents:
- the European patent with unitary effect: EP 4 039 974 B1 and related patents in other European countries
- The international patent application WO 2022/167214 A1 extends patent protection to non-European countries
- the patent applications EP 4 266 550 A1 and WO 2023/203001 A1
- the patent application EP 4 361 436 A1
- further patent applications are in preparation
The complete list can be found under Patents on our company website.
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