Tekcapital (AIM:TEK ) said its wholly portfolio company, Guident, has acquired a new regenerative shock absorber technology, which is designed to extend the driving range of electric vehicles.
Guident, the Company focused on commercialising new technologies for autonomous vehicles and ground-based drones, has acquired the exclusive license to U.S. patent # 8,941,251 from the Research Foundation of the State of New York for an undisclosed sum.
The patent enables the manufacture of electromagnetic regenerative shock absorbers with high energy densities that are able to recover a vehicle's vibration energy which is otherwise lost due to road irregularities, vehicle accelerations and braking, the company explained.
This technology, which can be ‘tuned to achieve better damping characteristics than existing shock absorbers’, previously received the R&D 100 Award by R&D Magazine, for one of the 100 most significant technology innovations of the year from around the world.
Shares in Tekcapital, which have already doubled since April 2020, were trading 10.00% higher at 10.45p this morning following the announcement.
Professor Lei Zuo, the lead inventor of the patent, and Director of the National Science Foundation Center for Energy Harvesting of Materials and Systems said:
"I'm very glad Guident is commercialising this important and highly efficient new technology, which will enable vehicles to be more sustainable by increasing their driving range and improving their ride comfort."
According to Allied Market Research, “the autonomous vehicle market is expected to reach $556 billion by 2026 with a CAGR of 39%,” Tekcapital reiterated this morning to investors.
Alongside a surge in demand for contactless or "touch-free" delivery due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Guident believes this increase will accelerate the roll-out of land-based delivery drones for food and medicines to improve their availability and reduce delivery costs.
"Electric vehicle manufacturers are seeking to cost-effectively increase the driving range of their vehicles”, said Ron Tarro, Director, and VP of investment group, New World Angels.
He added, “Recapturing a vehicle's kinetic energy through regenerative shock absorbers could contribute to this objective and thus move the world toward increasingly energy efficient mobility."
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