About a year ago, Maxwell Technologies told the world about the Chinese government using its ultracapacitors in various official vehicles. Another July brings another announcement, and so we learn that the city of Milan, Italy will soon be using Maxwell's ultracap modules in its hybrid and electric buses. The 125-volt BOOSTCAP ultracapacitor modules will store energy from the bus' brakes and then spit it back out for torque assist when the driver steps on the accelerator. Overhead electric lines or a diesel generator will supply the rest of the energy needed to move the public transit vehicles. Milan has ordered 70 buses from Vossloh Kiepe and Van Hool and will soon take deliver of the first 15. More details after the break.

[Source: Maxwell Technologies Inc.]

Like Indiana Jones and some sort of Ark or Tomb or Crystal Skull, today's automotive engineers are always looking for better ways to capture, store and release electrical energy for future hybrids and EVs. Green Car Congress says that GM is "actively exploring" at combining supercapacitors with li-ion batteries for the next generation of E-Flex vehicles (read: don't expect in the 2010 Volt). Speaking at the Advanced Automotive Battery Conference (AABC) this week in Tampa, Forida, GM's Mark Verbrugge - the materials and processes lab director - said that a supercap/li-ion combo might help not only with capturing excess power but also with the trouble li-ion batteries have in cold weather. What the battery gives up in power density might be made up for in a lower operating temperature. GCC quotes Verbrugge saying:

We're running the Volt power versus time profile through this combination with and without the supercaps. We wanted to show it [the early work], perhaps it will be compelling to those who want to provide ESS [energy storage system] to the automotive industry.

Compelling? Yes.

[Source: Green Car Congress, h/t to Paul]

While batteries make most of the headlines when it comes to the energy storage requirements of electric cars, the capacitor could be an exciting and viable alternative. Unlike batteries, which store chemical energy and make it available for use as electrical energy, capacitors store energy in the electric field between a pair of conductors. Supercapacitors, or ultracapacitors, are currently being developed which could rival batteries in the amount of energy that they can store. Whether capacitors see use as part of a hybrid drivetrain or as the sole source of electricity for a pure electric vehicle, we expect to see them make a dent in the automotive sector as the future unfolds. Then again, we've been expecting some news on this front for a while (EESTOR, anyone?), so we might have to keep waiting.

Check out Number 3.

In a recent article in Popular Mechanics, editor Mike Allen declared himself a fan of ultracapacitors for hybrid cars. He explains how he visited Honda's development facilities 15 years ago and found himself testing a mild hybrid that used an ultracapacitor to store energy. However, we all know that current hybrids don't use ultracapacitors. Instead, they have powerful batteries, which have a higher power density and a price that is going down.

Nevertheless, Allen predicts that once ultracapacitors can be made successfully at a competitive price point, conventional hybrids will use them because of the "capacitor's longer life span and lower internal resistance, as well as its deep-discharge tolerance. While a battery pack can be damaged by being discharged completely, capacitors simply don't care." On the other hand, he foresees that plug-in hybrids will always need batteries for their main battery pack, while using capacitors to reclaim energy while slowing down and to provide high-current acceleration. EESTOR must be happy.

[Source: Popular Mechanics]

Last November's IEEE's Spectrum Magazine edition had a very interesting article by Joel Schindall, associate director of the Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems at MIT, about ultracapacitors and their possible applications in the automotive industry. Schindall is involved actively in this field of research and is hopeful that they will provide a key role in automotive electricity.

An ultracapacitor is a "souped-up" version of a capacitor, an electric device which stores a great amount of energy in a remarkably small space. Current Latest development in ultracapacitors can are expreted to store up to 50 times percent as much energy as a battery about the same size and are able to stand more than 300,000 charge/recharge cycles. But can they replace batteries? Schindall states that not really, but they can complement regular batteries to power current electric devices such as A/C, power brakes or window locks.

The truth is that ultracapacitors can't hold discharge electricity for a long time [Edited], while regular batteries can. The moment electricity is released from ultracapacitors, it dissipates fast (about 2 minutes). Applications such as those mentioned above, where an important burst of energy is needed during a certain amount of time, are the most adequate.

The article continues with information about the methods of manufacturing ultracapacitors and very interesting notes about the use of nanotechnology for this purpose. Read it here.

[Source: IEEE (Thanks to Domenick for the tip)]

[Edited: Errors fixed]

One of the technologies that will be covered at next week's EVS23 in Anaheim will be a prototype minibus that is powered by a tribrid system (that is, the bus uses hydrogen fuel cells, lead acid batteries and ultracapacitors). The bus project is managed by Jonathan Williams at the University of Glamorgan, and he recently spoke to AutoblogGreen for our latest podcast. Here is the transcript of our conversation. There is also a press release on the bus at the end of the Q&A.

Sebastian: All right. This is Sebastian. I am on the phone with Jonathan Williams who is a lecturer at the University of Glamorgan.

Jonathan: Correct.

Sebastian: That is a university in Wales and Jonathan, hello to you.

Jonathan: Hello, Sebastian.

Sebastian: Jonathan is the developer of a hydrogen fuel cell minibus that was unveiled and has been on display in the UK earlier this fall and you will be coming to the Electric Vehicle Symposium in Anaheim, California next week to describe this technology to the people in the industry and you have agreed to give AutoblogGreen readers and listeners a bit of a preview of that event and talk to us about this hydrogen bus so thank you very much. What are looking forward to doing at EVS23?

(the interview continues after the break)

When we're talking about the word "hybrid" in automotive circles, it doesn't always mean a gasoline engine with a powerful battery pack tied on. For Maxwell Technologies and Tianjin Lishen Battery, hybrid describes a new sort of energy storage product that combines ultracapacitors with lithium-ion batteries. The two companies recently announced they would partner up to produce this hybrid power source, and samples should be available early next year, possibly in EVs. The Maxwell press release doesn't give any details and simply says, that "The companies have identified a number of initial target applications for the new products, ranging from quick-charge cordless tools to electric vehicles."

David Schramm, Maxwell's president and chief executive officer, said this hybrid tech "will give end-users the best of both worlds in terms of the long cycle life, rapid charge/discharge characteristics and low temperature performance of ultracapacitors and the large energy storage capacity of lithium-ion batteries." Let's hope so.

[Source: Maxwell via The Energy Blog]

Recently, I've noticed that we've had a few comments regarding the lack of announcements coming from ZENN Motors and EEStor regarding when we might see an actual product using their new energy storage technology. In fact, it was even mentioned by one person who visited a ZENN dealership that he was told that there were problems regarding the technology. It was said that if the product ever does become available, it would not have nearly the specifications that were originally quoted. So, I decided to contact ZENN regarding these rumors. Here is the reply that I got:

Dear Mr. Korzeniewski,

Thank you for your interest.

We continue to say that we are expecting to receive the technology at the end of the year. EEStor has reached all their benchmarks so far. That is about all I can say.

Again, thank you for your interest and if I can be of further assistance, do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

So, what does all of this mean? Either the aforementioned dealer was given misinformation, or ZENN isn't being completely forthcoming. Let's just keep on the lookout for any information about EEStor and ZENN for now, and hope that all is on track. I'll follow up with ZENN shortly. Stay tuned.

Related:

• Zenn buys into ultra capacitor company EEStor
• More on EEstor's ultracapacitor - can we believe the hype?
• Quick update on EEStor and ZENN Motors

ZENN Motor Company has paid $2.5 million for a 3.8 percent equity stake in ultra capacitor developer EEStor. The deal means that ZENN gets an exclusive deal for EEStor's batteries for small and medium sized vehicles. EEStor is going to use the money to fund the next stage of testing of their capacitors by an independent third party lab. If the capacitors meet the requirements laid out in the equity agreement, then ZENN will have the option to invest another $5 million dollars under the same terms as the initial investment.

Related:

• More on EEstor's ultracapacitor - can we believe the hype?
• Quick update on EEStor and ZENN Motors

[Source: ZENN Motor Company]

Even though Honda is dropping the ultracapacitor used in the current version of the FCX fuel cell car in the new FCX prototype, ultracapacitors have and will continue to play an important role in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicle technology. That's why it's cool news to see that Maxwell Technologies introduced a new 125-volt Boostcap ultracapacitor module last week (called the HTM BMOD0063-P125, not pictured), intended for use in heavy hybrid and electric vehicles.
Able to deliver power and recharge very quickly, ultracapacitors have technically been around since the 1745 and they are ideal for modern use in vehicles that use regenerative braking. Dr. Richard Balanson, Maxwell's president and chief executive officer, said the new Boostcap was "designed specifically to satisfy rapidly growing global demand for ultracapacitor-based braking energy recuperation and torque assist systems for hybrid bus and truck drive trains and electric rail vehicles."

The HTM BMOD0063-P125 is pretty small (it weighs less than 50kg and measures 315x425x744mm, according to Maxwell) and you can connect up to 12 modules in series to deliver as much as 1,500 volts. Click here for the full press release.

Related:

• Ultracapacitors: Making electric hybrids more efficient

[Source: Maxwell Technologies, Inc.]