Newton Fund - Development of Smart Electronically Controlled Hybrid Energy Recovery Systems for Buses and Electric Vehicles

The simplest way to reduce carbon dioxide and other emissions from buses is to use less fuel and to electrify small passgener cars. The Vulcanaer system reduces fuel usage in urban buses & electric vehicles by harvesting braking energy and storing it as compressed air for subsequent use. Vulcanaer is a retrofit technology so can easily be applied to older buses and can be used by bus fleet operators with no government subsidy. With the aid of the newly developed electronic control, the project aim is to confirm fuel savings- expected to be 5-10%, through application to an urban bus in India and running it on a real, bus route for several weeks. The technology will also be applied to the small electric vehicles to improve the traction control and provide a cost effective cool air supply in place of more expensive and energy intensive air conditioning. If successful, the project will reduce fuel usage for every single bus and electric vehicle it is installed on, and so reduce costs to users and operators, and lead to new manufacturing jobs in India (and potentially in the UK) and provide a real contribution to cleaner air in cities.