A newly developed electric scooter happens to be the product of ..an accident? Well, a Japanese scientist unexpectedly discovered what he claims is the world's most magnetic material. This magnet which made this scooter a possibility, may setoff many more wonders
TO DATE, most of the research on electric
vehicles has concentrated on developing
super-efficient batteries in an attempt to
maximise their range and power-to-
weight ratio. However, until now, even
the most advanced vehicles have
required a mini battalion of such batteries to achieve a modest performance.
The new scooter developed by Sciex
Corporation of Japan runs on just four
12-volt car batteries.
The scooter's inventor, Yasunori
Takahashi's breakthrough in electromagnetic technology came a few years
ago while he was experimenting with
new magnetic alloys. One of his laboratory staff misread his instructions and
added the wrong element to the mix.
"We Japanese often confuse the Roman
letters b and d," says Takahashi. "My
technician added neodymium (Nd)
instead of niobium (Nb). The result was
extraordinary because I suddenly found
myself in the presence of the most powerful magnetic material I had ever seen."
Takahashi subsequently developed a manufacturing system to produce a
magnetic powder that could be formed
into anything from ultra-thin coatings
to large permanent magnets. He now
claims to have produced a magnet with
the world's highest Megagauss Oersted
rating - or MgOe (the unit measuring
magnetism) - of 120 MgOe. This
super-magnetic force is the secret
behind the new Sciex scooter's performance.
Takahashi has redesigned a conventional electric motor fitted with his
super-powerful magnets, thereby producing a highly efficient engine that will
produce 15 horse power from just a few
amperes of electricity. In fact, his motor
is so efficient that when the scooter is
throttled back and free-wheeling, the
engine becomes a generator and partly
recharges the batteries while on the
move, giving the scooter an enormous range.
"The magnet can serve various purposes replacing the conventional ones in
applications like producing credit cards
and loudspeakers. It can bring about
huge increases in information - storage
capacity and quality," says Takahashi.
One of the many novel uses for the magnet foreseen by Takahashi is extending
the life of rechargeable batteries. This
'battery doubler' is already on the market in Japan. Takahashi now has bigger
plans for commercial exploitation of his
new magnetic discovery.
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