In the early 2000s, Solectria (RIP) used supercaps experimentally as current levelers in EVs. They hoped to get more range out of lead batteries.
The idea worked, to a degree, but the caps' rapid voltage fall meant they needed a DC:DC converter, and its (in)efficiency was a problem. Also, the range improvement was highly dependent on how the vehicle was driven. http://www.evdl.org/docs/supercap_leveler.pdf The report linked above doesn't discuss the system's cost, but IIRC it was pretty high for the small amount of benefit it returned. Adding another module or two to the battery would have probably accomplished more for less cost. But they couldn't have gotten a grant for that. :-) David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Q: What do you call a principal female opera singer whose high C is lower than those of other principal female opera singers? A: A deep C diva. -- Anonymous = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
