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They only recently got around to adding electric wheels to airplanes[1], which may save up to 1.1 billion dollars annually since using jet engines to move a few mph is like, zero efficient.

[1]: http://gizmodo.com/these-little-electric-wheels-will-save-ai...



Added benefit: spin up the wheels prior to landing to reduce wear on the tires when they first touch the ground.


... and then make them regenerative, capturing the braking energy into supercapacitors.


Airplane wheels don't really do any substantial braking. Thrust reversers and aerodynamic friction do the work there.


Wow, that is a great idea. I mean, propelling a vehicle at 5 mph using jet engines optimized for 600 mph has to be one of the most energy inefficient means ever invented.




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