this post was submitted on 02 Jul 2025
99 points (100.0% liked)
LinkedinLunatics
4951 readers
567 users here now
A place to post ridiculous posts from linkedIn.com
(Full transparency.. a mod for this sub happens to work there.. but that doesn't influence his moderation or laughter at a lot of posts.)
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I've legitimately had someone suggest adding a small wind turbine to a car to generate power to charge the car as it's moving.
the CIA doesn't want you to know this
Someone give this man a job now
You're eating the air resistance anyway so probably not the worst idea if it generates a more than negligible amount.
It will increase air resistance, so you don't gain anything (a turbine will need more power to spin when there is an electric load).
Not if you position it, say, in front of the car so that you're getting energy without getting hit without much additional force. If you somehow don't need to see, the whole front of the car can be turned into a turbine. Now obviously we're not making a perpetual motion machine here, but this could theoretically be the air resistance equivalent of regenerative braking.
It doesn’t work because the car’s front is shaped to minimize drag, and a turbine would add drag — forcing the motor to work harder to maintain speed. Turbines generate energy by resisting airflow, not letting it slide past. So you’re not harvesting free energy; you’re paying for it with more fuel or battery.
You have just invented a perpetuum mobile machine. The turbine will power the car which, whilst moving, will in turn power the turbine. Pure genious.