Mechanical, Thermal, and Environmental Energy Harvesting Solutions in Fully Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Innovative Approaches and Commercial Systems

Giuseppe Rausa, Maurizio Calabrese, Ramiro Velazquez, Carolina Del-Valle-Soto, Roberto De Fazio () and Paolo Visconti
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Giuseppe Rausa: Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Maurizio Calabrese: Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Ramiro Velazquez: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Panamericana, Aguascalientes 20296, Mexico
Carolina Del-Valle-Soto: Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad Panamericana, Zapopan 45010, Mexico
Roberto De Fazio: Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Paolo Visconti: Department of Innovation Engineering, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-54

Abstract: Energy harvesting in the automotive sector is a rapidly growing field aimed at improving vehicle efficiency and sustainability by recovering wasted energy. Various technologies have been developed to convert mechanical, thermal, and environmental energy into electrical power, reducing dependency on traditional energy sources. This manuscript provides a comprehensive review of energy harvesting applications/methodologies, aiming to trace the research lines and future developments. This work identifies the main categories of harvesting solutions, namely mechanical, thermal, and hybrid/environmental solar–wind systems; each section includes a detailed review of the technical and scientific state of the art and a comparative analysis with detailed tables, allowing the state of the art to be mapped for identification of the strengths of each solution, as well as the challenges and future developments needed to enhance the technological level. These improvements focus on energy conversion efficiency, material innovation, vehicle integration, energy savings, and environmental sustainability. The mechanical harvesting section focuses on energy recovery from vehicle vibrations, with emphasis on regenerative suspensions and piezoelectric-based solutions. Specifically, solutions applied to suspensions with electric generators can achieve power outputs of around 1 kW, while piezoelectric-based suspension systems can generate up to tens of watts. The thermal harvesting section, instead, explores methods for converting waste heat from an internal combustion engine (ICE) into electrical power, including thermoelectric generators (TEGs) and organic Rankine cycle systems (ORC). Notably, ICEs with TEGs can recover above 1 kW of power, while ICE-based ORC systems can generate tens of watts. On the other hand, TEGs integrated into braking systems can harvest a few watts of power. Then, hybrid solutions are discussed, focusing on integrated mechanical and thermal energy recovery systems, as well as solar and wind energy harvesting. Hybrid solutions can achieve power outputs above 1 kW, with the main contribution from TEGs (≈1 kW), compared to piezoelectric systems (hundreds of W). Lastly, a section on commercial solutions highlights how current scientific research meets the automotive sector’s needs, providing significant insights for future development. For these reasons, the research results aim to be guidelines for a better understanding of where future studies should focus to improve the technological level and efficiency of energy harvesting solutions in the automotive sector.

Keywords: energy harvesting; automotive energy recovery; electromechanical harvesting; thermal harvesting; solar energy recovery; automotive commercial solutions; wind harvesting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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