Ultracapacitor technology: What it can offer to electrified vehicles

Abstract

Our team is currently the global technology leader in the field of both carbon-carbon ultracapacitors and hybrid lithium-carbon devices. Main expertise includes R&D in material science, electrochemistry, process engineering, manufacturing engineering, electrical system design and manufacture of ultracapacitor electrodes, cells and modules. The team participated in a number of international research projects, and prototypes of ultracapacitors and hybrids were tested in the Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis, in JME Inc., in Wayne State University, and some other labs. All the test results confirm the superlative performance of the devices developed: carbon-carbon ultracapacitors demonstrate the extremely low inner resistance resulting in the highest power capability and efficiency that also reduces the cooling requirements and improves safety. Our “parallel” hybrid devices demonstrate substantially higher energy and power density than competing LIC technologies. In order to make ultracapacitor technology even more attractive to automakers, new organic electrolytes have been developed and are currently under testing (not ionic liquids) at temperatures about 100 °C and voltages up to 3.0 V.