A car able to run solely on power generated from the material in its roof or door could offer a sustainable alternative to other eco-friendly motoring solutions, researchers say.

Scientists at Imperial College London are working with car manufacturer Volvo on a $4.6 million project to develop a new material that could store and discharge electricity in future hybrid vehicles.

“The car of the future could be drawing power from its roof, its bonnet or even the door, thanks to our composite material,” said Dr. Emile Greenhalgh, project coordinator from Imperial College London’s Department of Aeronautics.

The prototype consists of carbon fibres and a glass fibre which allows the material to store and discharge large amounts of energy. When the device is plugged into a power supply, it creates a current like a normal battery would. Essentially the car acts as its own battery.

The material is a supercapacitor, similar to those used in electrical circuits — and only takes 10 to 15 seconds for it to be fully charged, according to the scientists.

“We are aiming to produce a 15 percent weight reduction,” said Dr. Alexander Bismarck who works alongside Greenhalgh. “The structure would be lighter so that would mean you could drive further.”

He predicted the weight reduction could improve the performance of future hybrid cars. “If we are able to reduce the overall weight of a car, it should be possible to increase its top speed and accelerate faster,” said Bismarck.

He added that the material could, in future, be used in other objects.”You might have a mobile phone that is as thin as a credit card because it no longer needs a bulky battery, or a laptop that can draw energy from its casing.”

During the three-year project, researchers hope to develop material that will replace the metal flooring in the car boot. They say making a wheel well out of the composite material could allow Volvo to reduce the number of batteries needed to power the electric motor.

Current hybrid cars need a large number of batteries to power the electric motor which means it uses up more energy and batteries often need regular recharging.

This breakthrough invention is also good news for the environment. A lighter vehicles means “cutting down fuel which reduces our carbon footprint,” said Bismarck.

He added that the U.S. and British military are “interested” in how the material could be applied to high power weapons and reactive armor.

The University also has plans to take the project further — by looking into how the material could apply to airplanes.

In the world today there are many different electric motors. We all see equipment that is powered by motors, whether you realize it or not. It might be a pool pump that powers water through a swimming pool, to a lathe in a woodshop that is used to make bowls or pencils. These motors typically average in size to about 5 HP. Then there are the larger electric motors that are used like vehicle motors, airplane motors. And you’ll hear of electric motors commonly used in business today that are commercial and industrial electric motors like those you might find in factories or warehouses and are used to power large machines. Electric motors are a big part of how businesses and factories are powered, but like everything today, there will be times when something goes wrong and you will need to have parts repaired or replaced on the motor.

Electric motor repairs usually need to be done by qualified repairmen or companies that specialize in electric motor repair. If you have an electric motor that is especially large and heavy, you will need to verify with the repair shop that they have the necessary equipment, like cranes, to be able to move your motor.

When your pool pump motor runs dry and burns up you know you can call your pool technician and he will repair the problem for you or if you need an electric motor repaired on any of your woodworking machines, you generally call in a repairman who works on small machines. When larger more powerful motors develop problems and need parts and repair work it often entails a larger scaled motor repair division found in companies that special in industrial and commercial machine motors.

These companies tend to have repairmen and technicians who are skilled in working on both A/C motors and D/C motors as well as motors that have a higher horse power. They will also have all the necessary tools and equipment needed to repair your motor back to a pristine state. Many of the large scale electric motor repair shops will have the ability to put a high build epoxy varnish treatment on repaired items as well as to do a Core Loss test, and equipment that can do vibrations testing on the electric motors and parts repaired.

At times your motor will have become so damaged, often because of too much heat that damages the insulation or because the winding has been cut, that it will need to be rewound. Almost all electric motor repair shops have the equipment required to test for this and can offer you motor rewinding services. Most shops should be experienced enough to be able to rewind all types and sizes of motors, such as for both A/C and D/C motors. With any electric motor repair work done, make sure to check is the shop is a certified warranty repair facility for your type engine manufacturer. If your machine is still under warranty, it is going to be very important that you use a shop that can do certified repair work on your engine.