New Suspension Generates Power From Bumps and Curves
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/08/genshock/

Every time your car bounces or sways, it creates energy, and two companies have developed a way to harness that energy to boost fuel economy while keeping your ride taut and smooth.

ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Levant Power Corp. have created the world’s first active suspension system equipped with an energy recovery function. It’s called the GenShock and if an automaker signs up with the project, it could hit roads within the next few years.

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> “Every time your car bounces or sways, energy is being lost to the ether, and two companies have developed a way to harness that energy to boost fuel economy while keeping your ride taut and smooth. ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Levant Power Corp. have created the world’s first active suspension system equipped with an energy recovery function. It’s called the GenShock and if an automaker signs up with the project, it could hit roads within the next few years. The principle behind the system is to recoup lost energy from the motions of the suspension and then feed that power back into the car’s electrical system. Students at MIT developed a similar system in 2009, and claimed to generate enough power to replace a vehicle’s alternator.

If this was developed in 2009, how could it be the world’s first. Also, isn’t a system like this that generates electrical energy from bumps and curves already installed on hybrid cars? I thought it was already on the Prius, at least, perhaps those generate electrical energy from passive suspension rather than active?