Very cool innovation from Peugeot:
the Hybrid Air has a reversible hydraulic pump that uses the braking energy to compress nitrogen gas in what looks like an oversized scuba tank. When the Hybrid Air driver next presses the accelerator, the compressed gas pushes hydraulic fluid, syringe fashion, through a gearbox to turn the wheels.
Braking is one of the most wasteful aspects of modern transportation.
Cars and train dispose of braking energy by generating massive amounts of heat… all a waste. Planes using some conventional braking but largely just turn their engines into maximum reverse thrust to slow down… again all a waste.
One thing I love about recent trends in hybrid technology are the efforts to capture wasted energy. This hydraulic/air pressure systems seems very promising.