Ultracapacitors to replace batteriesBatteries start fires. Batteries pollute. Batteries wear out. Batteries can leak acid. What the world needs is a better way to store electic energy. The people who invested in Google, Amazon, and AOL are now putting their money in ultracapacitors.
If a new company called EEStor delivers on its promises, storing electric power in what it calls ultracapacitors will change the world.
Among EEStor's claims is that its "electrical energy storage unit" (EESU) could pack nearly 10 times the energy punch of a lead-acid battery of similar weight and, under mass production, would cost half as much.
It also says its technology more than doubles the energy density of lithium-ion batteries in most portable computer and mobile gadgets today, but could be produced at one-eighth the cost. TreeHugger
EEStore has contracted to deliver its first EESUs to ZENN Motor Company in 2007 to use in their electric vehicles. It also has patented "Electrical-energy-storage unit (EESU) utilizing ceramic and integrated-circuit technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries."
According to Clean Break via The Energy Blog
A capacitor is like a grilled cheese sandwich. The electrical energy is stored in the bread slices. The cheese needs to prevent the stored electricity from leaking across to the other side. In ultracapacitors the pressure will be over a thousand volts. The company that can solve ultracapacitor size, weight, leakage, cost, and safety issues will have the "holy grail" of electric storage.
This totally rocks!
Take that BIG OIL!
Wow, this could really solve a lot of problems. Hope it works.
sounds good, but they look really big, or are the pictures of several of them?
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The ones used in cars will be BIG - 400 pounds. The ones pictured here are only a few pounds.
What if . . . instead of one big 400 pound Ultracapacitor,
.....there were 400 small ones and
..........each Ultracapacitor weighed one pound?
..........Then they could have a controller
..........that charged/discharged them, in sequence, as required.
.....If each one took a few seconds to charge,
..........then it might take ten minutes to charge them all.
.....If each one could discharge power for 1/8 to 1/4 of a mile,
..........than they could be discharged one after another and
..........might go 50 to 100 miles on a charge,
..........depending on if there were hills or not.
.....With regenative braking rechargeing them on the way down and
..........maybe solar cells on the roof, extending this range.
Check out MIT's article on Nanotube-enhanced Ultracapacitors comments on size VS energy storage.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/techtalk50-16.pdf
I think it's a good idea to find a substitute for batteries.
Hi folks,
check this out it looks like this technology gives much more power!!! ,a href="http://www.apowercap.com/">www.apowercap.com
Thanks for the link. Here are some clickable links to their ultracapacitor technology page and their products page.
When the engine in my Geo Metro dies I would like to replace it with an electric motor (a surplus starter motor from jet engine). Hopefully the price on these ultracaps will be reasonable by then.
I'm using a surplus starter motor in my current EV, check it out at: www.texomaev.com , I hope to someday add some ultracapacitors to my current battery pack, so they will supply the brunt of the current requirements during acceleration in the EV, then recharge off the battery bank, for the next time, I need ample current draw.
Thanks for the link to this site about electric car conversions. I also recommend checking out these links I found there:
For info on ultracapacitors, check out ultracapacitors.org. Thanks Jim Johnson for the link.
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