Watch Bose's incredible electromagnetic car suspension system in action
CNETCited 4× on HN, 2018–2021
demo · general · evergreen · 2018–2021 on HN
A short CNET demo of Bose's electromagnetic active suspension, which gave a very smooth ride but never reached the market. It shows the system in action.
HN cites it as the demo of active suspension that was a technical success but a commercial flop.
Up next
15 mo on HNAround The Corner - How Differential Steering Works (1937)
US Auto Industry
17 HN recommender · 2013–2024
9 mo on HNCities Aren't Loud: Cars Are Loud
Not Just Bikes
10 HN recommender · 2021–2025
5 mo on HNHow Differential Gear works (BEST Tutorial)
ConceptVBS
5 HN recommender · 2013–2020
6 mo on HNA New Car UI: How touch screen controls in cars should work
Matthaeus Krenn
4 HN recommender · 2017–2023
5 mo on HNThese Stupid Trucks are Literally Killing Us
Not Just Bikes
11 HN recommender · 2023–2026
5 mo on HNThe 919 Tribute Tour: On-board record lap, Nordschleife.
Porsche
3 HN recommender · 2018–2026
6 mo on HNWhy Electric Bikes are More Dangerous than Motorcycles
FortNine
5 HN recommender · 2021–2025
5 mo on HNSpinning Levers - How A Transmission Works (1936)
US Auto Industry
5 HN recommender · 2018–2026
5 mo on HNAre Electric Cars Worse For The Environment? Myth Busted
Engineering Explained
5 HN recommender · 2018–2023
5 mo on HN1959 Chevrolet Bel Air vs. 2009 Chevrolet Malibu IIHS crash test
IIHS
5 HN recommender · 2014–2026
5 mo on HNThe Grille Trend that Kills 509 People per Year
FortNine
5 HN recommender · 2024–2026
4 mo on HNRiding through Iran on a small motorcycle as British person.
c90adventures
4 HN recommender · 2016–2021
4 comments from Hacker News
Funny you should mention GM, they had: link Bosch had electromagnetic car suspensions figured out 20 years ago: ▶ this video The car industry is a perfect example of "worst is better". The point about the cheap golf-kart car from China is about how little in terms of material costs actually goes into it. It is $5,000 shipped. In actuality it is about $2000 in parts. The skateboard platform I linked to is already developed, they are supposedly going public this year, not just a concept. If they can get them to pack flat (or flat-ish), they can ship quite a lot of them around the world for peanuts. Add whatever cab, wheels and branding you want to finish it off. All of this stuff is about to become a commodity. The most, and basically only, expensive part is the battery.
Interestingly, I remember this exact scenario was a noted problem for some sort of computer-controlled shock absorbers that I saw on the "Beyond 2000" TV show in the mid-90s. In many scenarios, the shock absorbers could detect bumps and holes in the road and compensate perfectly, resulting in a ride that was smooth as glass. But they still hadn't figured out how to differentiate between a crumpled paper bag and a rock, or a pothole filled with water vs a smooth surface. Otherwise, it was really impressive. Found it on YouTube: ▶ this video I feel like Level 4 or 5 Autonomous Driving will be the same -- there are just some problems that will never be solved well enough to make it work acceptably.
For my eye, Bose's suspension seemed smoother: ▶ this video And it had Turbo-Boost (same video with cue-in): ▶ this video
Assuming road noise is nowadays mostly low frequency noise - BOSE's car suspension [0] might do the trick: "It does for motion what noise-cancelling does for noise" [1]. [0] ▶ this video [1] link