1. Heins Effect Gaining Credibility
By Mike Brace Tech Editor, EV World
Monday | March 19, 2012
'Don't worry about people stealing an idea.
If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats.'
-Howard Aiken, US computer scientist (1900 - 1973)
Back in July of 2010 I wrote a story called The Heins Effect. It was a simple story about a self-taught inventor
who asked a stupid question and got a stupid answer. 30+ years ago Thane Heins was a young, naive student
at Heritage Collage/CEGEP when he asked the professor teaching the electric motors/generators class an
obvious question about efficiency, 'If you could figure out a way to retard [withhold] the counter-EMF on the
advancing magnet by 10% would you not increase its overall efficiency by 10%?'. 'Why even bother answering
that question, because if you did you would be violating several laws of physic, so you can't do it' was the
reply. And that was that.

2. It may not have been the actual word-for-word conversation that took place, but Thane gave us this short
synopsis when asked what sparked the idea for his technology. He had an idea in his mind when he asked that
question (a flash of genius you might say) but buried it in his collective and went on with life. I gleaned that
little bit of history from Thane last Monday while I was attending the RegenX demonstration in Toronto that
he was giving for his investors and technical staff.
Fast forward to post-911: Thane, like many other eco-engineers, wanted to stop the oil wars so he started
thinking about his ideas again. He grabbed his ideas, some electric motors and headed down into the
basement where disaster awaited. I'll spare you the details of the first time he plugged in his Regenerative
Acceleration prototype, but suffice to say it got away from him but in a good way. And from that first disaster
Thane knew he was on the right track so he has spent the last 10+ years coming to grips with what he
discovered and the last few years trying to explain it. And I have spent the last 48 hours doing the same.
When I last spoke to Thane several years ago he had come to grips with the mechanics of his technology, but
not quite the explanation of it (at least not one that most engineers could understand). He could prove it in
the lab to anyone that questioned it but without that basic, rock solid and understandable explanation of how
his electric motor can draw less energy, and accelerate at the same time, most of his naive collogues just
scratched their heads and walked away. Well, as a mechanical engineer I'm here to explain how it works and
why it works. And it does work; over a dozen of us were witness to that last Monday (as well as a film crew--
filming in 3D no less!)
Let's start with my feeble explanation of the mechanics of how a permanent-magnet electric motor works--
then I'll work my way up from there. The coils provide rotational force to the rotor when the coils are
energized with current (amps). Energized in sequence they form a rotating magnetic field (the Electro-Motive
Force; EMF) that attracts the magnets of the rotor and thus it rotates with force. An opposite EMF is also
formed as the magnet approaches the coils and--based on the strength of that back-EMF -- it determines how
fast you can rotate the magnets through it before it stops accelerating.
The conventional laws of physics (and those governing electric motors/generators) tells us that the faster we
pass the magnet through the EMF the more current is needed (or generated) to the point where the magnets
cannot go any faster due to back EMF [resistance to the magnetic field]. If you quit supplying electrical current
to the coils the rotor eventually freewheels to a stop over time. If you short out those coils (let's say to a
battery) then the magnetism in the rotating magnets supply current to those coils the motor, it becomes a
generator and slows down even faster because it's under load (via it's self-induced EMF). This is called
Regenerative Braking and it can be used to convert the momentum of the vehicle to electricity and
[ultimately] to put some of that electricity back in the battery and extend the range of the vehicle.

3. Still with me? I'm almost there... now picture if you will a flywheel attached to the pigtail of this electric motor,
and on this flywheel are the same type of magnets. If you were to place some standard coils next to these
magnets you have a duplicate of what's inside. Put Thanes proprietary Regenerative Acceleration coils next to
those magnets you have something exciting.
As Thane has come to understand he has figured out a way to store the latent electrical energy in those
rotating magnets as high voltage between the coils (not as magnetic field around his coils) and not in them
either; a capacitor of types (if you care to imagine). Since it is current flowing through the coils that causes the
magnetic fields around them (and not the volts) Thanes' coils offer no EMF [resistance] as the magnet
approaches. Just as the magnets pass top-dead-center to the coils... POW! His coils release the voltage into
the coils by shorting them out to the batteries--converting it to amps--and the magnet field is almost instantly
created. Since the magnets on the flywheel are now moving past the magnetized coils they accelerate away
from it, adding torque to the motors' rotor. This 'assist' helps lowers the amount of electricity needed to drive
the motor and the current that is created (from these coils) is fed back into the batteries. How much
electricity? Thane claims that if he designs the motor and his regenerative acceleration coils together (as a
package) he has seen as much as 200% increase in output. It almost seems like free energy... creepy, huh.
By now if you are like me you are asking yourself ìWhere is that free energy coming from?' Thane has his ideas
and I have mine, but from where I stand the answer is obvious: the magnets. Just as a permanent magnet
motor is more powerful and efficient than an AC induction motor, this extra energy is stored as a magnetic
field in the high-density rare earth magnets. True, over time the magnet should lose their magnetism but if
that's the case they could be recharged easily enough.
Now, let me explain what you see in real life. You see an electric vehicle that--when underway and not under
full load--will actually gain in top end and recharge the batteries at the same time. However, if you stop
turning the motor you stop the Regenerative Acceleration; and it cannot start the motor up. If you put the
pedal-to-the-metal to make it up a steep hill you will start draining the batteries. There's no unlimited free ride
here. But if you stay on the flat and level theoretically you could go on until your bladder tells you otherwise.
I have tried to describe an electric motor used to provide motive power for electric vehicles and provide
extended range as well, but if you think about it, there are some other unique uses for Thanes' generator. Put
one between some solar panels & the batteries and you have just doubled the output of the panels. Put one
off the end of a diesel generator and you get an increase in output. The possibilities are endless, as are the
questions and the skeptics I'm sure. But please, if you're asking me, try to keep the questions limited to
mechanical ones. As I stated in my first article, when it comes to electricity I'm lucky if I get the batteries in the
right way. If I have sparked your imagination, or you just want to build the next generation mousetrap, then I

4. invite you to contact Thanes' group, Potential Difference, at thane@potentialdifference.ca or, better yet, call
him at 613-759-1602. And tell him EV World sent you... it always gives him a good laugh.
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Originally published: March 19, 2012
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ELECTRIC DRIVE TRANSPORTATION ReGenX Technology Demonstration,
Toronto March 11th, 2012
Part 1 http://bit.ly/GE7ETS
Part 2 http://bit.ly/GCQ5J2
Part 3 http://bit.ly/GCG1ve
Part 4 http://bit.ly/GGqaL9