According to researchers at Argonne National Laboratory, ultracapacitors can lower the cost of the battery packs in plug-in hybrid vehicles. In recent years, the cost of making energy sources for hybrids is the main reason why it cannot overcome the monetary competitiveness of conventional vehicles.
Ultracapacitors opens the path to extend the life of a hybrid vehicle's power source, reducing the need to oversize battery packs. Unlike batteries, ultracapacitors do not rely on chemical reactions to store energy and more resilient to intense discharge bursts. The drawback is that they store less energy than batteries by an order of magnitude less. Ultracapacitors can guide redesigning batteries to hold more energy.
The researchers at Argonne are working towards cutting the cost of making them, and reducing the heat stress placed on batteries by a third.
Reference: Technology Review
No comments:
Post a Comment