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Maxwell Technologies Introduces New Ultracapacitor Line for Autos and Transportation
1 March 2006
Maxwell Technologies is introducing 16 new Power-type BOOSTCAP ultracapacitor cells and multi-cell modules specifically designed and constructed for demanding automotive and transportation applications.
The new line of Power products includes cells ranging in capacitance from 320 to 2,600 farads and 10 fully integrated modules based on the new cells.
All of the cells with a capacitance of 650 farads or greater operate at 2.7 volts, enabling them to store more energy and deliver more power per unit volume than any other commercially available ultracapacitor products, according to Maxwell.
Dr. Richard Balanson, Maxwell’s president and chief executive officer, said that the Power product line responds directly to customer requirements for high-efficiency, life-of-the-vehicle energy storage and power delivery solutions.
With more than 60 million new cars produced annually around the world and the proliferation of power-consuming functions in current and future vehicles, the automotive market is real, and it represents the single largest opportunity for ultracapacitor-based solutions, so we are moving aggressively to capitalize on Maxwell’s position as the global technology leader.
—Richard Balanson
All of the new Power products are expected to be available by the end of March. Earlier, the company announced the introduction of an equivalent line of low-cost Energy-type products for lighter duty industrial, UPS, telecommunications and consumer electronics applications.
March 1, 2006 in Batteries | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (1)
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With cells ranging in capacitance from 320 to 2,600 farads, the new Maxwell line might be a way to improve battery performance for those who spare no expense.
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Tracked on Mar 1, 2006 12:56:13 PM
Comments
Here is a question on regenerative braking:
How efficient is it - 20% ?
If we have supercaps, does it get any better ?
Otherwise, what do we use them for ?
Posted by: mahonj | Mar 1, 2006 11:11:16 AM
Super capacitors or ultra capacitors are just capacitors with buzz words. But that isn't bad, rapid improvements are being made.
Capacitors charge fast so they can capture energy from vehicle braking much better than batteries. And they can store a lot of power per weight; important in electrics and hybrids. In general they are reliable.
Downside, they are rather large per the power stored. That is awkward in vehicle design. And their voltage rises and falls as they are charged and used, whereas battery voltage is fairly steady; this can tricky for the electronic and electric devices involved.
Posted by: K | Mar 1, 2006 11:44:51 AM
Regenerative braking is not all that efficient at present because of this big thing called a gasoline engine that is also a part of the mix: that is by far the limiting factor for regenerative braking. There are MANY & GREAT loses that go along with internal combustion engines when compared to electric drive. Just by closing the valves on deceleration Honda was able to improve regen braking efficiencies by about 10% on their new civic, I believe. Imagine if there was no engine, period? (although a car sure would be missing some of its soul if it lacked the sound of a healthy engine paddling through the gears-I'll miss that.)
Unless some other great technology comes along, I envision purely electric vehicles (plug in's) in a few years that have a very powerful bank of batteries and a suplemental bank of super caps to do the brunt of the work in imediate acceleration/deceleration, and a super small & efficient engine as backup to generate electricity on long drives, such as Star Rotor Corporation's absolutely incredible new engine coming out that has phenomenal efficiency figures. www.starrotor.com You would likely not use much fuel at all other than electricity, unless you do much long distance driving, and you would then have the added benefit of using your own solar/wind resources to recharge at home if you have them, which incidentally, are getting cheaper all the time. Consider the Sunball solar appliance, for example, that uses cheap fresnal lenses to greatly amplify the solar strength and electrical production. Wow. www.greenandgoldenergy.com.au
All electric is not quite there yet, but it's definately looking better all the time.
Cap's are getting better all the time. Look at MIT's new ultra-capitor technology. It's not out yet, of course, but look where capacitor technology is likely heading: ultra-cap's that could store as much juice as nickle-metal hydride batteries do today, or more, but with all the longevity, economic & environmental benefits of ultra-caps. Sort of hard to say which will win out in the end: ultra-caps or super batteries.
With only electric motors, regen braking efficiecy would likely soar up to 80% efficiencies or higher. I can't wait.
Posted by: John W. | Mar 1, 2006 8:46:37 PM
Capacitors are a great complement to hybrid or all-electric vehicle when connected in parallel with batteries. Capacitors can very efficiently absorb and deliver power rapidly. The ability to efficiently recover braking energy and return nearly all that energy to get the vehicle going again is important. While my Prius does a pretty good job of recovering energy during braking, it could do much better if the electrical storage could handle higher peak loads (kW), with less internal resistance. A large percentage of the Prius's gasoline usage in the city is used for acceleration. The downside of capacitors is that they don't store nearly as much energy as a battery does (kWh). They are fine for storing energy exchanged during stop-and-go traffic, but are not a good choice for storing energy needed to run a vehicle for long distances.
Posted by: James White | Mar 1, 2006 9:29:53 PM
John W & James W....it is hard to say which technology will win - Ultra caps or ultra batteries...... This is a very good question. Presently, it seems that ultra batteries have more energy (storage) capacity than ultra caps but they may not have the same endurance to multiple charge-discharge cycles. Ultra caps may be useful to extend the life of ultra batteries and supply extra start up power in city driving. However, the new ultra batteries, with their quick charge/discharge capability, could also do a good job of recovering energy during braking and supply high power for accellerations, but for how many times. Extensive tests with various configurations are required to come up with the best solution.
Posted by: Harvey D | Mar 2, 2006 8:12:24 AM
Electrical based regenerative braking is up against the physics of electrical generation. To put energy into a battery or ultracap the generator must put out a higher voltage than the battery. Voltage is a function of speed times field current. As the car slows the generator voltage lowers unless field current keeps increasing. The only source of this current is the battery you are hoping to recharge. The characteristics of the engine is irrelevant to regenerative braking efficiency. Pneumatic and hydraulic systems are not speed dependent and are much more efficient than electrical systems.
Posted by: tom deplume | Mar 2, 2006 11:20:44 AM
tom deplume:... It seems that high efficiency (85%) variable speed electric generators can be designed to operate within a very wide speed range and controlled to supply a relative steady output voltage. See Fred N. Miekekka; Raven Technology; Concycle configuration; Magnasmart generator; etc. Could thoses technologies be used for electrical based regenerative braking applications?
Posted by: Harvey D | Mar 3, 2006 2:46:57 PM
(a) ultracaps are based on fast electrostatics rather than slow electrochemistry. Wheel-to-store efficiencies of ultracap hybrids can reach ~75% vs. just ~25% for battery-based designs during recuperative braking. When comparing specific power and capacity, you must size all options for the required lifespan of e.g. a million cycles. Batteries have to overdimensioned 8-10x to achieve that!
For a good theory primer, choose the English version of this Japanese site:
http://www.ecass-forum.org
They advocate a non-toxic, non-flammable electrolyte, initialization and control electronics to ensure safety and boost capacity. They supply several Japanese manufacturers in small quantitities.
(b) it's possible to deal with the voltage variation by bank switching ultracap stacks between series and (partial) parallel configuration. In addition, there's a buck-boost power converter in the chain that can adjust to voltage differentials between storage and motor.
(c) ultracaps are still expensive due to low sales volumes. The materials involved are cheap enough (mostly carbon, a tiny bit of organic electrolyte and packaging plus electronics) but achieving high life expectancy requires tight quality control in manufacturing.
(d) any decent hybrid design will decouple the engine from the wheels during recuperation.
(e) California's ZEV legislation allows major manufacturers to collect 0.x credits for each hybrid sold. The credits are counted toward the carmaker's ZEV quota. However, the x is much higher if the vehicle gets high electric-only range, which means the law strongly favors batteries over ultracaps.
Note: in order to achieve the advertised electric-only range in practice, you have to discharge the batteries to much less than the usual 80-90% lower bound. This shortens their life expectancy, so the drivetrain controller normally fires up the ICE after a much shorter distance (unless you're out of gas).
Posted by: Rafael Seidl | Mar 5, 2006 10:22:04 AM
