Electricity storage, Ne plus ultra, new version of an old idea

[cy]

A new version of an old idea is threatening the battery industry

PUT the pedal to the metal in the XH-150—a souped-up Saturn Vue—and watch the instruments. Sure enough, the speedometer shoots up in a satisfactory way. But an adjacent dial shows something else: the amount of charge in the car's capacitors is decreasing. Ease off the accelerator and as the speedo winds down the capacitors charge up again.

Such a capacitor gauge could become a common sight on the dashboards of the future. A capacitor can discharge and recharge far faster than a battery, making it ideal both for generating bursts of speed and for soaking up the energy collected by regenerative braking. AFS Trinity, a company based in Washington state, has turned that insight into a piece of equipment that it has fitted into an otherwise standard production model as an experiment. The result—the XH-150—was unveiled at this year's Detroit motor show.

In fact the XH-150 is a three-way hybrid, employing a petrol engine and conventional lithium-ion batteries as well as its special capacitors.

http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10601407

 

[Mr Happy]

But capacitors have a big drawback. Their voltage is directly proportional to their charge -- when they are half empty they have half the voltage. Also, even the best supercapacitors have only a fraction of the energy density of chemical cells. They are a link in the chain perhaps, but not the whole solution.

 

[jayflash]

Thanks for the link, cy. The article was interesting and gives hope that we have a real chance of breaking our petroleum bond to the Middle East. A thrifty, quick accelerating, vehicle would be icing on the cake.

We can urge our legislators to do what they responsibly can to promote technology for proper purposes.