Eco Factor: Electricity and magnet-powered cargo transporters.

Transporting cargo over long distances on fuel-guzzling trucks leads to an increase in emissions and a decrease in driving space. Truck designers have recognized the need to reform cargo transportation and have developed newer means of transport that minimizes emissions and maximizes space owning to a unique transforming ability. Industrial designers Tobias Förtsch, Aram Haydeyan and Stefan Brenn have a different opinion – divide the transportation system into two, one favoring long distance transport, and the other includes transporting goods over short distances.

Tobias has developed a new concept of cargo hauling, the Transport Efficiency 2020, which is based on the use of two vehicles – the long distance “Airliner” and the shorter range “Cityloader.” This long distance transport vehicle is actuated by superconductive magnets. Superconductors produce frictionless levitation, avoiding any mechanic resistance, enabling the vehicle to hover above rails that are embedded in the street. These rails create a magnetic field, which propels and stops the Airliner.

Since the Airliner is designed to run above the rails, no mechanical fixation between the rail and the vehicle is needed. The system doesn’t have any effect on other vehicles that pass over it. The Airliner consists of a driver’s cab and several modules that can be attached or removed according to the load that is to be carried.

The other vehicle, known as the “Cityloader,” is a compact transport vehicle that is designed for distances of up to 400km. The vehicle is powered by an all-electric engine that fuels the in-wheel electric motors. The vehicle can be recharged via a plug ‘n’ ride system that may either be placed at the logistic center or at several city stations. Similar to the Airliner, the Cityloader too comes with a modifiable loading space that allows a change in the size of the vehicle according to need.

Thanks: [Tobias Förtsch]466999