Tufts has granted commercialization rights for groundbreaking technology that could improve mileage in electric and hybrid vehicles by as much as 70 percent.
Formally known as an electromagnetic linear generator, the technology converts energy from shock absorption -- energy that would otherwise go to waste -- into electrical energy that can charge the vehicle's battery while it is being driven.
Electric Truck, LLC received the commercialization rights to the technology, which Ronald Goldner, a former Tufts engineering professor, and his colleague, Peter Zerigian, developed 10 years ago, according to Martin Son, the associate director for licensing in the Office for Technology and Industry Collaboration (OTLIC).
The OTLIC, which is in charge of protecting and commercializing Tufts-generated intellectual property, worked hard to market the electromagnetic linear generator, Son said.
He compared the newly licensed technology to passing a magnet through a coiled wire to induce an electric field. The vibrations caused by the vehicle's linear motion on the road are used to generate an electrical current, which can then be used to charge the vehicle's battery, Son said.
David Holst-Grubbe, Electric Truck's cofounder and chief executive officer, praised the design.
"What it means is what I would call a game-changing technology in hybrid-electric and electric-vehicle technology," he said.
According to Holst-Grubbe, the technology could be ready for widespread deployment on a commercial level within two years.
"We're actually further along than one might think; we are currently getting manufacturing quotes from manufacturing companies," he said, adding that negotiations are currently underway with "several major manufacturers of hybrid vehicles."
With the technology, consumers could potentially purchase a car that would get 75 miles per gallon, according to Holst-Grubbe.
The technology is particularly important because of its applicability to vehicles other than small cars. Larger vehicles would benefit more from the technology since they contain more mass and therefore would generate more energy using the shock-absorption device, Son said.
"They're mostly interested in seeing how this technology could impact larger vehicles like commercial trucks," he said, referring to Electric Truck.
"The brilliance in the overall design comes from how Tufts managed to focus magnetic fields," Holst-Grubbe said. "We're further refining and developing it to get into manufacturing so that we can make a significant contribution to greenhouse gas emission reduction and toward the reduction of fossil fuel consumption."
Goldner retired from Tufts after suffering a stroke in 2005. Since that time, the OTLIC had been evaluating whether the university could patent and commercialize his technology.
Although the OTLIC initially faced difficulty marketing it, Son said that recent increases in energy costs made it easier for them to license the technology.
"Obviously, in the past couple of years the climate has changed quite a bit, where energy costs have skyrocketed," he said.
He explained that these changes have created a demand for technology such as Goldner's, and they have created a more favorable market for the university to license the rights to companies such as Electric Truck.
The technology's design was key to the university's success in marketing it. According to Son, Goldner's specific design, and his improvements to plans of implementing the technology, were sufficient to earn the technology a patent.
Although significant progress has been made, more must be done to ensure the success of this project. The technology developed at Tufts is still in its early stages, and it will take a good deal of work from Electric Truck to successfully commercialize it, according to Son.
"There are very early-stage prototypes that demonstrate proof of principle and show that it does work. The company is working to create commercially feasible prototypes to bring it closer to market," he said.
"We're very pleased with the fact that we have been able to enter into this partnership with Electric Truck," Son said.
Both Son and Holst-Grubb offered praise for the retired professor and his discovery.
"Ron Goldner is such an exceptional individual, and I've worked with him for a number of years," Son said. "With him having to leave the university in the way that he had, we are all very pleased that we're starting to finally make progress on commercializing his technologies."
Holst-Grubbe added, "It's really a remarkable technology, founded on what I would call brilliant work."
