Scaly BMW Concept Car Collects Solar Power, Then Raises Panels to Brake

It would be cool if you could program the way the scales come up to tune the way the car steers at high speeds too.

I think this idea would not work well in real world.
If there is wind coming from behind as you trying to break, it can make air brakes useless, and wind from sides maybe enough to push the car to out of the road.

this car looks like a joke. if this pulled up next to me at a red light i would be like wtf.

Instead of making a car like that. Why not work on a car that can fly. A solar hover craft would be pretty neat to see.

Well they certainly do not care about aesthetics here. It is not really an innovative idea because we know that some cars use this principle to brake ie. Bugatti Veyron lifts the spoiler to break and has about the same or more braking power found in a regular car but, still a good 70 percent of the braking is done by the disk brakes. I also think that this principle would work OK at high speeds but in the city there just wont be enough air resistance to brake at a traffic light, i think it would just keep going, slowly but going, if there aren't any other types of braking systems to aid the air brakes that is. Even at high velocities, the car might be stable but when those flaps open, the aerodynamic coefficient would change so drastically that it would not be safe. Those flaps would have to be put at very peculiar points to avoid this result. also it would need some kind of software that would make fast calculations that would allow the flaps to open at different speeds and degrees to better brake...

i don't think so!

Well, as we all know, new cars almost NEVER look like the concept that they were derived from! So off the wall designs always end up being just more imagineering.

This car is not practical in any sense of the word. The fins would not only be counterproductive in all but the most perfect of weather conditions, but the design lends itself to serious problems of maintainence. Imagine trying to wash this thing! Getting into all the little crevices. Dust, dirt, and all imaginable debris would get blown into all those fin sections. And don't even think about parking it under a Pine tree!

The fins would also wear out like popup headlights and you'd be driving down the road with half your fins up and the other half down.

Ms Forschner:

It's fun to look at your design, but it is, as other commenters have said, not workable. Aside from the many problems others have pointed out, trying to drive such a vehicle would generate enormous wind noise the faster you try to drive, and the aerodynamic drag even when the panels are laying at their flattest would most certainly more than cancel out any benefit from solar charging.

There are dozens of gaps of all sizes between the panels that would whistle, roar, rumble and hum at various speeds, and any noise generated is not free- it takes energy to make noise, and it will all cut into the car's efficiency, as well as make your passengers miserable.

I see no indication that you have considered egress for your passengers-- how do they get in and out?!

When the panels deploy, they are bound to cause accidents and severe injury to bicyclists and motorcyclists who would not expect clearances to change between cars.

If your idea is to survive at all, you'll need to make your panels fully aerodynamic when under power, and they cannot be very large and cannot be on the sides of the car-- perhaps two single panels on the roof and trunk lid.

You're trying to think outside the box, and that's a good thing, but if you make one thing better only to make other things worse, it's a wash. I am curious to see your more serious designs, but you should be willing to be your own devil's advocate, and resolve the problems you find.

Cleaning all those scales would be painful:D

while i'm all for creativity...

looks like this car has a sking disease. ew.

Interesting concept. I like it.

I'ld buy this car

It would take some getting used to, that's for certain. My question would be, what would happen if mud or snow or some other kind of road debris were to clog the braking system and cause wind resistance or drag when driving? Would there be a sensor to let you know that a braking panel is deployed? What would you have to do to fix it?

Living in New Hampshire and Maryland, as I have, means a healthy amount of road debris and weather. Are they betting that this will be your touring vehicle, only taken out on special occasions? Do they feel it would be impractical for everyday use?

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okay but what happens if someone hits it?????? AHA!

Looks Cool. Dose it come in black? Ha ha.

whats the point? rather than use scales you could collect the stopping energy into the battery like a hybrid, and besides reversing would be slowed horribly. then theres keeping water out and cleaning the damned thing(not to mention any minor collision would total it). while this IS creative, its elementary school creative and i cant believe someone took time to create that concept art

well thats a good point but thats a wicked awesome design and the point is that we are advancing in technology and that we are taking things to a new level.

this sort of looks like the car off of Grn Turismo 4 ( Nike's 2020)exceot that it looks cooler. if it could fly then it could use the panels to control the cars trajectory

This is one.............. sexy................. fool. I would totally drive that around, just to see the look on people's faces.

It would be cool if you could program the way the scales come up to tune the way the car steers at high speeds too.