AirShip Technologies Group

Full Size Links:  AirShip Vehicle Specification   

              Delorean ATG Vehicle Specification

            T1 Maglev Electric Truck Specification

            T1 Maglev Electric Truck Presentation

As detailed in the Electric Car History and Links, production and conversion battery electric vehicles typically achieve 0.3 to 0.5 kWh per mile (0.2 to 0.3 kWh/km).  The U.S. fleet average of 23 mpg of gasoline is equivalent to 1.46 kWh/mi and the 70 mpg Insight gets 0.48 kWh/mi (assuming 33.6 kWh per U.S. gallon of gasoline), so battery electric cars vehicles are relatively efficient.  When comparisons are made for the total energy cycle, the efficiency figures for Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) drop, but such calculations are not commonly offered for internal combustion engines (ICE) e.g. the loss of efficiency from energy used to produce specialized fuels such as gasoline as compared to the raw energy available from crude oil or natural gas.

Vehicle specifications for AirShipTG's maglev spherical induction motor track spheres is designed for operation in all four seasons and it provides for the same physical road surface footprint of a regular automobile tire.   It operates on typical road surfaces, but is not designed for off-road travel.  The vehicle’s target maximum speed is 125 miles per hour.  Target vehicle miles per gallon (MPG) or (Equivalent MPG) is 100+ miles per gallon and a 400 mile range.

Track Spheres were designed to allow for a 360-degree movement of a vehicle which is propelled and manuevered via drive-by-wire instructions.  The drive mechanism is the application of electromagnets in the track sphere hub interacting with core magnets in the spherical wheel.  As such, they represent an innovation in ground transportation that will allow for a vehicle to pull up to a parallel parking spot and move lateral to park.  It truly is a re-invention of the wheel which AirShipTG has applied for a U.S. Patent.  For cars and trucks, it will prove useful for maneuverability in tight ground traffic and parking.

For the most part, Track Sphere Hubs surround the spherical wheel and employ an anti-magnetic brush layer at its base.  The flexible anti-magnetic brushes prevent metals from becoming magnetized at the hub base as well as serve to keep debris from entering the base of the track sphere assembly.  As such, the hubs contain brushes to clean the sphere and serve as an active self-cleaning mechanism.  These are attachments to the body of the vehicle and consist of a flexible external cover and low seated brushes at the bottom of the hub.  At travel, the vehicle appears to float down the street or highway without the viewer seeing the track sphere motion.  This is seen very well in the AirShip Ground Transit Concept Vehicle shown below.

The AirShip’s roots stem from the original design as a hovercraft dating to our first 1993 designs and later presented at the Portland International Conference on Management and Engineering (PICMET ��).  The original front to rear track configuration has been preserved to eventually adapt the vehicle for multiple uses.

                      1993 AirShip Hovercraft Roots

                             AirShip Vehicle Specification