Wind is actually one of the natural enemies of vehicle designers. But researchers at the University of Stuttgart in Germany are trying to regard this energy source from a different point of view - They are working on a vehicle that is powered by the wind!Wind can be quite fast. Theoretically, it can reach incredible speeds of up to 760 mph (1230 km/h) on our planet. For ages people have been using its enormous potential, first for moving on the water and later for moving through the air. But using wind power to move vehicles on land has up until now been a task just for pioneers. Researchers from the team InVentus at the University of Stuttgart are now occupied with the groundbreaking idea of developing a wind vehicle: The Ventomobil.
A draft of the VentomobilThe vehicle is still in the planning phase, however the design has already been visualized on paper. At first glance, the four meter long vehicle will look like a cross between a sports car and a helicopter. On the roof of the aerodynamically shaped body, there is a rotor with a one meter diameter. This lightweight carbon fiber component, weighing 600g, is the centerpiece of the Ventomobil. “One of the biggest challenges in developing the Ventomobil has been obtaining the highest power output from the rotor,” explained Alexander Miller, one of the design engineers from the InVentus team. “In order to optimize the aerodynamics of the rotor, we are also going to conduct some tests in a wind tunnel in the near future.” The results should help to reduce the thrust of the rotor. As opposed to an aeroplane propeller, which generates movement through thrust, the Ventomobil actually “sucks”, so to speak, the energy from the wind. The wind is thereby weaker behind the rotor than it was previously – this process is the exact reverse of that of the propeller. In this way, speeds of up to 60 km/h can be reached. As it is irrelevant for the rotor from which direction the wind is blowing, the Ventomobil can also travel against the wind, without tacking! Thus, it also fulfils the most substantial conditions for participation in the Aeolus Race, which will be conducted at the end of August in the Dutch city of Den Helder. For the “Tall Ships Race”, eight windmobile vehicles will compete against each other over three days. The vehicles will be allowed to store wind energy electrically, in order to then use the energy in phases where the wind is weaker. “Ultimately, you have to weigh up whether to store the energy and be slower from the start,” says Alexander Miller. “We decided, however, against such storage.” The InVentus design engineers are instead relying on a mechanical power train, which promises less energy loss than an electrical or hydraulic system.
"In Legoland, it already works!" - How the design engineers imagine the public presentation of the VentomobilHowever, even if this system did work as perfectly as one imagined it would, one weak spot would remain. During the calm phase, the wheels of the Ventomobil stand still, but energy storage could be the solution for such a problem - and could therefore make wind vehicles attractive for consumers. This is an interesting vision indeed, because wind mobiles are totally free of CO2 and energy costs! However, Alexander Miller doesn’t believe that wind mobiles will become a familiar part of the daily life on our streets. “But maybe they will be established as sport or fun vehicles in shore areas”, he adds.Nevertheless, it will take the InVentus Team some more months of hard work to turn the vision of the Ventomobil into reality. On June 21st, roughly two months before the race, the Ventomobil will be presented to the public. This event will be part of the initiative “Germany - Land of Ideas”, a campaign for innovative projects that Club of Pioneers will join in with, holding our own event taking place on February 22nd in Berlin! Certainly, we will keep you informed about how the Ventomobil is going on – stay tuned!