ADOMANI and Amperics Partner to Bring Supercapacitors to EVs
Lithium-ion batteries are the choice of todays EV manufacturers such as ADOMANI®, because of the rechargability, power holding capacity and durability. Amperics says that their supercapacitors can offer a superior alternative.
Despite recent advances, batteries have always been the weak link in the full replacement of internal combustion engines for EVs. Problems such as slow charging, low distance per charge cycle compared to a tank of gas, and low charge cycle life have plagued battery-powered EVs from the beginning. For this reason, ADOMANI and Amperics are partnering to bring supercapacitors to EVs.
Amperic's supercapacitors measure about the third the size of a standard lead-acid battery, store in the range of 250Whrs, a lot of electrical power. Super caps can be recharged over 100,000 times, far in excess of any battery known.
For this reason alone, super caps offer an enormous potential advantage over batteries. Another benefit is that super caps can be stacked to deliver an exceptionally large bank of electrical power to recharge the vehicle battery pack.
In the case of ADOMANI's® new electric three-wheel tricycles, one super cap can power the entire vehicle and recharge to full capacity in one minute in most circumstances.
Bala Padmakumar, CEO of Amperics said, "While energy storage technologies have made great progress in the last few years with lithium-ion batteries becoming well-known for electric vehicle traction packs, the fact remains that there is no single technology that works optimally in all applications. In high power, intermittent use applications that operate in unfavorable temperature environments, supercapacitors either as a standalone or in a hybrid configuration with another energy storage technology, can be the best choice. On a Total-Cost-Of-Ownership basis, they can be cheaper, smaller, more reliable and safer, than lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries, in a diverse range of applications."
According to the two companies, super caps offer a new way of implementing fully electric or hybrid configuration vehicles. Regenerative braking systems on cars and trucks can recharge super caps virtually for free.
ADOMANI's® Starter Module replaces the antique lead acid battery that is part of many electric vehicles (used to keep systems operating when the electric engine is off such as ventilation, lighting, etc.). ADOMANI contends that this introduction is another game changer in electric vehicle evolution. The new ADOMANI Starter Module product can also replace or supplement the ubiquitous lead-acid type starter batteries used in traditional combustion engines, commercial trucks, buses, on/off road construction and mining vehicles and generator sets.
Amperics is reportedly pursuing EV applications termed "last mile urban transport." Such EVs are characterized by limited distance trips of (10kms to 20kms) and temperature variations from -20C to +40C and have to meet a very low cost. In India and SE Asia the price point to be met is just $2500 for a viable vehicle. The incumbent technology for last mile urban transport is two-stroke engines implemented as 3-wheelers called tut-tuks or autorickshaws.
