Stories tagged ultracapacitors
AFS Trinity XH-150Courtesy AFS Trinity
Just plug it in
AFS Trinity corporation is hoping to convince auto makers to incorporate their "Extreme Hybrid" technology into their vehicle fleets. When bursts of energy need to be expended or stored (accelerating and stopping), use of ultracapacitors will prevent overheating of the batteries. The AFS Trinity batteries will only hold about 40 miles worth of power (78% of Americans drive less than 40 miles per day).
First 40 miles require no gasoline
If you drive 40 miles per day for 6 days and you drive 100 miles on the 7th day, how many gallons of gasoline do you need? AFS Trinity claims that one of their "extreme hybrid" technology equipped vehicles was able to do this with less than two gallons of gas (340 miles with 2 gallons of gas = 150+ mpg). The electricity which powered the car for the first 280 miles cost $7.58 (based upon $.06/kwh).
When can we get one?
Extreme Hybrid technology in commercial production is expected to cost around $8,700 more than current, gas-only SUV’s. Based upon today's gas prices and the weekly driving pattern above, the payback period would only be a few years.
"If car makers decide not to take advantage of this offer, AFS Trinity intends to raise the funds to begin modifying existing hybrids or manufacture its own 150 mpg SUV’s and, eventually, 250 mpg sedans. We believe such production models could be available for sale in three years.” (AFS Trinity CEO Edward W. Furia)
Learn more about the AFS Trinity Extreme Hybrid SUV
Tags : Batteries recalled
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.
New ultracapacitors can replace batteries
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."
What is an ultracapacitor and how does it work?
According to Clean Break via The Energy Blog
- It is a parallel plate capacitor with barium titanate as the dielectric.
- It claims that it can make a battery at half the cost per kilowatt-hour and one-tenth the weight of lead-acid batteries.
- As of last year selling price would start at $3,200 and fall to $2,100 in high-volume production
- The product weighs 400 pounds and delivers 52 kilowatt-hours.
- The batteries fully charge in minutes as opposed to hours.
- The EEStor technology has been tested up to a million cycles with no material degradation compared to lead acid batteries that optimistically have 500 to 700 recharge cycles,
- Because it's a solid state battery rather than a chemical battery, such being the case for lithium ion technology, there would be no overheating and thus safety concerns with using it in a vehicle.
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.
