Formula 1, the thoroughbreds of the auto racing world, were the first cars to embrace flybrid technology. UK-based startup Flybrid Systems engineered that innovative flywheel-based energy storage and recovery system, an alternative to the regenerative braking systems found on hybrid and electric vehicles.
Regenerative Braking
Regenerative brakes commonly use an electric motor to generate electricity. A fundamental law of physics is that energy cannot be destroyed. When you hit the brakes, the kinetic energy from the car’s forward movement gets converted to heat through friction.
When using regenerative brakes, the car’s electric motor goes into reverse, causing the car to slow down. In addition to braking the car, the mechanical energy from the reverse spinning of the motor generates electrical energy that recharges the car’s battery.
Flywheels
Flywheels utilize a rotor spinning at high speeds to provide electrical energy. It’s an alternative to regenerative braking systems that’s far more efficient because the energy isn’t converted several times the way the hybrid’s systems do.
According to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, transforming energy from one form to another causes significant energy loss. A typical hybrid regenerative braking system converts the kinetic energy from braking to electrical energy in a motor then to chemical energy to be stored by the battery. To actually use that power it then has to be converted back again. That inefficiency explains the limitations of conventional regenerative braking.
Flywheels solve that problem by reducing the amount of energy conversion or eliminating it altogether by storing the kinetic energy that comes from braking into a fast spinning rotor. That rotor, spinning 60,000 RPM in Flybrid’s case, reduces the need for a battery.
Flywheels aren’t anything new. Switzerland used the technology back in the 1950s for their gyrobuses. It’s used to some degree in almost all cars with manual transmissions to keep a small amount of energy stored to prevent stalling. Even little toy cars use flywheels to propel them forward after charging them up with forward pushes.
But the flywheel systems that could provide any significant power to a vehicle were limited in their range of application because they were heavy and suffered from high gyroscopic flywheel forces that limited their performance. Flybrid engineers have developed solutions to these problems to create a high-performing technology with mass appeal.
Flybrid Systems
According to Flybrid’s website, “high-speed flywheel based energy storage systems using Flybrid technology are powerful, small and light giving a better power to weight ratio than existing automotive hybrid technologies.” Flybrids are so effective because the rate of power that gets transmitted between the flywheel and vehicle wheels is limited only by the capability of the continuously variable transmission, which is highly efficient.
Flybrid claims that their product can deliver more than 20% reductions in both fuel consumption and emissions at a far lower cost than typical hybrid regenerative braking systems. Their performance comes from their high efficiency — the system delivers as much as 70% of braking energy back to the wheels.
With the Formula 1 test drive a success, Flybrid has been working with car manufacturers such as Jaguar and are expecting to have their first road-ready vehicles on the streets in 2013. Flybrid’s flywheel technology can have a huge impact on the fledgling EV industry that’s still trying to solve the battery dilemma. Limited range can be solved by increasing the size, weight, and cost of batteries, which ends up decreasing EV’s efficiency. The Flybrid System isn’t a battery replacement, but as the EV industry grows, any technology that reduces the need for batteries will be one that’s highly sought after.
