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Markets > Automotive

Contents:


  3. ​

Introduction​

Regenerative Braking

​Start/Stop Systems

Why supercapacitors are ideal for the automotive market

​Introduction
Fuel efficiency is now all the more important in today's society. Using supercapacitors, the automotive industry aims to reduce its prior reliance on oil, and has made huge shifts towards electrification. However, such a shift comes with particular mandates to ensure high performance, reliability, and safety.

Fortunately, the development of efficient and electric vehicles has taken a huge step when used in conjunction to our ultracapacitors.

Being able to connect in parallel with batteries, supercapacitors contributes to a robust system that balances energy and power density. This system the becomes applicable in two of the fastest growing solutions in the automotive market; regenerative braking and start/stop systems.​

Regenerative Braking
A practice that allows a vehicle to absorb kinetic energy while braking, and then use that energy for acceleration, hill climbing, or reducing fuel consumption. As this method takes most of the load off of mechanical brakes, brake maintenance becomes less of a necessity. Electric and hybrid vehicles will also find that the power of lithium-ion batteries have power outputs far inferior to those produced by supercapacitors
    

Start/Stop Systems
Start stop is a method that allows an engine to power down when not moving, for instance at a red light, or idle in traffic. Upon moving again, supercapacitors can apply a small burst of energy allowing the motor to restart, resulting in significant reductions in emissions and savings on fuel. It is expected that by 2022, start-stop systems will be the most cost-effective and fuel efficient method to be utilized in electric vehicles, and it’s expected that by that time, as many as half of new cars will be fitted with them.


- Electric and hybrid cars struggle when it comes to exerting power for acceleration and hill climbing
         Using ultracapacitors to efficiently absorb energy from          braking, the outputted power is comparable to any                    competing technology on today’s market.

Why supercapacitors are ideal for the automotive market 

- The concern of battery life
          When used in parallel with batteries, the strain on the             battery is reduced and lifetime is increased.

 - Utilizing a start-stop system requires a car engine to be restarted numerous times per day.
​          As opposed to batteries, supercapacitors are designed               to withstand millions of cycles without maintenance,               or drops in performance.