VW's Mag-Lev Car

[AlphaKilo]

A Concept to think about! It seems VW China, has a project, to collect ideas from the general public and develop cars based on the best idea and this happens to be one such project. It has been developed from the idea of a Girl, to use the minerals under the earth for magnetic levitation. I am not sure whether the video below is true or a faked animation, but for sure looks real to me. On the other hand, there is a good animation, in the digitaljournal website. Worth a watch. I think, we could have one such thread in TBHP too or if I remember correctly we do have one such thread somewhere.

This article reports on Volkswagen’s levitating or floating car. It has no wheels and uses an electromagnetic grid in the road and it will indeed change driving from the way we know it.
Some are more so and some less, however, most people are fans of technology. And one automotive innovation that has been talked about for some time is the ‘car’ that levitates or floats off of the ground. Mercedes-Benz recently showed off its F-Cell Hydrogen Roadster Concept. The F-Cell is a modern two-seat roadster with large buggy like wheels. Volkswagen is also venturing into the future too but the automaker has gone one step further and eliminated the wheels altogether. And how did the Volkswagen floating car come about? Getting to know what Chinese drivers want is a top priority for automakers as such a huge market of future drivers equates to major vehicle sales and profits. Consequently, Volkswagen came up with the People’s Car Project to inquire of China’s citizens about what they want in their future cars. And out of 119,000 car concept responses, who submitted the idea for the Hover Car? It was a young girl from Chengdu city who was studying animation and gaming design. Volkswagen used the girl’s idea to develop the floating car. The two seat Hover Car levitates by way of an electromagnetic grid in the road. The car has clear round doors. Furthermore, its smart key combines aspects of a ‘regular key’ with a small LED screen that provides information on the vehicle’s fuel use as well as the driver’s driving habits. Regarding the car, Simon Loasby, head of design at Volkswagen Group China said, “The trend is towards safe cars that can easily navigate overcrowded roads and have a personal, emotional and exciting design.” The automaker believes that the People’s Car Project has been successful enough that it will extend the project and consider bringing it to other countries.

Read more: Review: Volkswagen



Review: Volkswagen

Volkswagen's The People's Car Project: Hover Car PART 1 - YouTube

[agambhandari]

This Grid system is like an even advanced version of the Mag-Lev Rail. Will need backing by the whole car industry to make it viable.

[AlphaKilo]

The article or the video itself doesnt say much about the details of it. As to what I understood from the video, it is not using any lines or any other extra infrastructure, rather the iron/magnetic core of the earth to provide the levitation. That is why in particular they have chosen chengdu, which is supposedly rich in minerals.(All are my speculations, no official information available)

[Daewood]

The best part about this is the elimination of the driver, and that would mean if introduced in a discipline averse country like ours, it would save around 1.5lakh lives a year or around 20 billion dollars.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

The article or the video itself doesnt say much about the details of it. As to what I understood from the video, it is not using any lines or any other extra infrastructure, rather the iron/magnetic core of the earth to provide the levitation. That is why in particular they have chosen chengdu, which is supposedly rich in minerals.(All are my speculations, no official information available)

Nice video you've shared here. Of course it is all very well done CGI. I am pretty sure it is not real!

Though would love it really if could be made possible one day during our lifetime.

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by Daewood

The best part about this is the elimination of the driver, and that would mean if introduced in a discipline averse country like ours, it would save around 1.5lakh lives a year or around 20 billion dollars.

Originally Posted by joslicx

Nice video you've shared here. Of course it is all very well done CGI. I am pretty sure it is not real!

Though would love it really if could be made possible one day during our lifetime.

It will not only introduce lane discipline, but also, eliminate the need for queueing up in the petrol stations and daily worries about increasing fuel prices. Instead of using hybrids or batteries I feel such a never ending propulsion source is what the world needs right now. But then that will be for sure blocked by the money rich/oil laden middle-east kings inorder to be able to keep generating revenues for them to buy ferraries and Mclarens and some football clubs.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

...not sure whether the video below is true or a faked animation, but for sure looks real to me...

Definitely computer animation!

Interestingly, one of the most convincing parts of the video was also a tell-tale of it being CGI. The part where a crushed soft-drink can gets pushed out of the way by the vehicle's magnetic field. Well, cans are aluminum. Aluminum is non-ferrous (non-magnetic, paramagnetism aside)

Related thought : I think these days companies and advertising agencies try too hard to make videos that will go "viral".

cya
R

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Definitely computer animation!
Well, cans are aluminum. Aluminum is non-ferrous (non-magnetic, paramagnetism aside)

Related thought : I think these days companies and advertising agencies try too hard to make videos that will go "viral".

cya
R

I thought cans are made of "tin" and thats y the name tin-cans, ok, i see that they are 75% of the time made of aluminium.

A beverage can is a metal container designed to hold a fixed portion of liquid such as a carbonated soft drink, alcoholic beverage, fruit juice, herbal tea etc. Beverage cans are made of aluminium (75% of worldwide production)[1] or tin-plated steel (25% worldwide production). Worldwide production for all beverage cans is approximately 52 billion units.[1]

Beverage can - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Is it being pushed by the magnetic field? If so shouldnt it be attracted rather than being pushed away?The push effect could also be because of the wake created around the moving object.

Hey, well, thats an interesting point, by the way will the magnetic field not attract ferrous particles from around it, causing Foreign object damage? and also a magnetic field with some metal passing through will induce electric field! BXH - cross product and right hand thumb rule! current will be induced in the perpendicular direction right?
But, I dont think this mag-lev will have any exhaust system that would be ejecting magnetic/charged particles .

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by Daewood

The best part about this is the elimination of the driver, and that would mean if introduced in a discipline averse country like ours, it would save around 1.5lakh lives a year or around 20 billion dollars.

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

The article or the video itself doesnt say much about the details of it. As to what I understood from the video, it is not using any lines or any other extra infrastructure, rather the iron/magnetic core of the earth to provide the levitation. That is why in particular they have chosen chengdu, which is supposedly rich in minerals.(All are my speculations, no official information available)

This will not be viable in india. India is a power-deficit Nation and I would not like to be stranded in the middle of nowhere due to power failure. Secondly Govt will not approve it as it cannot make money on repeated sales like petrol / toll etc.

However, the concept is good and as mentioned, Fuel, Traffic discipline, reduced accidents etc can be achieved.

[joslicx]

Can anybody tell me what is supposed to be fueling this car?

Even assuming very modestly, it must weigh somewhat like 600+KG + 2 passengers=150KG more ~ 750KG at least.

Now tell me how much force would be needed to lift that much weight? Move that much weight? Stop that much weight from moving or falling down? Now where is all that force coming from??? Certainly it would be far more economical to have wheels run a car rather than wasting a lot of electricity just to lift a car. Even Meglev trains are a complete waste of money.

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Can anybody tell me what is supposed to be fueling this car?

Even assuming very modestly, it must weigh somewhat like 600+KG + 2 passengers=150KG more ~ 750KG at least.

Now tell me how much force would be needed to lift that much weight? Move that much weight? Stop that much weight from moving or falling down? Now where is all that force coming from??? Certainly it would be far more economical to have wheels run a car rather than wasting a lot of electricity just to lift a car. Even Meglev trains are a complete waste of money.

Well you are correct on one point. The main source of power will be its batteries. Atleast, thats wat the "Mag-Lev" trains are using. I dont know how can a compact design like this manage to house all those.
To control, propel or to stop will be done by complex control technology, and various sensors that monitor the body's position and user inputs. It is similar to flying a Sukhoi-30 MKI, you take the computer away from the jet, it will just drop from the sky like a rock, they are negative stabilized for want of agility. Same control systems I believe should find a place here too to constantly control the vehicle's attitude.
Once again, as I had said in my very first post, it could very much be possible that this is just a concept. Moreover, I have been searching all over the internet to find some reliable source about this car, and even asked some of my contacts in VW, and they have no idea that such a concept is being pursued upon. But one thing for sure that VW china, indeed has the project of welcoming ideas from general public. So take this information with a pinch of salt. As Rehaan said, it could be very much possible that this info is fake and spread only to create a viral effect in the internet.