Potholes, while ruining tires and causing intense levels of irritation, could be put to good use soon, if Levant Power Corporation’s plans to develop a shock absorber that harnesses the energy made from potholes’ jolts actually go ahead.
We first heard of Levant Power Corporation’s CEO Shakeel Avadhany’s plans last year, when he was an undergraduate student at MIT, but over a year later his environment-friendly plan is still going strong. In fact, he hopes to see the GenShocks devices on the market in the second quarter of 2011.
While prices still haven’t been revealed for the GenShocks, they’re estimated to cost more than usual shock absorbers, though Avadhany says “you will get those dollars back through improved fuel economy.” Another one of those ‘spend some money, get money back in savings’ type devices.
I don’t want to rain on Avadhany’s dream, but given the choice I’d much rather see local councils fill in the potholes than have a work-around for gaining benefits from the unsightly holes. [NY Times]
Tags: cars, energy, power