Audi is tired of just producing energy through its suspension and wasting it, so they plan to harness it through the suspension and turning it into electricity.The idea of generating shock absorbs is nothing new as it has been used before but Audi’s new system call EROT is simpler than the previous ones.
eROT uses a lever arm attached to the car’s suspension to rotate an alternator via a gear set. As the wheel goes up and down, the lever arm translates the linear motion into rotational motion of gears and ultimately the shaft, which spins a rotor in an alternator, inducing current in the stator and voila, you’ve got electricity recharging the 48 volt lithium-ion battery. The system works the other way as well, with the 48 volt battery fine-tuning the electromechanical rotary damper, adjusting it continuously to suit driving conditions. Audi says the adaptive system allows the damper to “eliminate the mutual dependence of the rebound and compression strokes that limits conventional hydraulic dampers.” That means you can have a soft compression stroke,and a firm rebound.Audi says that in addition to energy recuperation and continuous damping capability,the new system will also provide additional interior space,since the telescoping shocks are mounted horizontally.Audi also says that this is an interesting system,and that it will make its way through future products.More comfort,better fuel efficiency,more interior space,sounds good to me.
