Capa vehicle
Encyclopedia
A capa vehicle is a traction vehicle
that uses supercapacitor
s (also called ultracapacitors) to store electricity.
the best ultracapacitors can only store about 5% of the energy that lithium-ion rechargeable batteries can, limiting them to a couple of miles per charge. This makes them ineffective as a general energy storage medium for passenger vehicles. But ultracapacitors can charge much faster than batteries
, so in vehicles such as bus
es that have to stop frequently at known points where charging facilities can be provided, energy storage based exclusively on ultracapacitors becomes viable.
is experimenting with a new form of electric bus, known as Capabus, which runs without continuous overhead lines
(is an autonomous vehicle) by using power stored in large onboard electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), which are quickly recharged whenever the vehicle stops at any bus stop
(under so-called electric umbrellas), and fully charged in the terminus
.
A few prototype
s were being tested in Shanghai in early 2005. In 2006 two commercial bus routes began to use electric double-layer capacitor buses; one of them is route 11 in Shanghai
. In 2009 Sinautec Automobile Technologies, based in Arlington, Virginia, and its Chinese partner Shanghai Aowei Technology Development Company are testing, with 17 forty-one seat Ultracap Buses serving the Greater Shanghai area since 2006 without any major technical problems. Buses in the Shanghai pilot are made by Germantown, Tennessee
-based Foton America Bus Company Another 60 buses will be delivered early next year with ultracapacitors that supply 10 watt-hours per kilogram
.
The buses have very predictable routes and need to stop regularly every 3 miles (4.8 km) or less, allowing quick recharging at charging station
s at bus stops. A collector on the top of the bus rises a few feet and touches an overhead charging line at the stop; within a couple of minutes the ultracapacitor banks stored under the bus seats are fully charged. The buses can also capture energy from braking, and the company says that recharging stations can be equipped with solar panels. A third generation of the product, which will give 20 miles (32.2 km) of range per charge or better is planned.
Sinautec estimates that one of its buses has one-tenth the energy cost of a diesel bus and can achieve lifetime fuel savings of $200,000. The buses use 40% less electricity even than an electric trolley bus, mainly because they are lighter and have the regenerative braking benefits. The ultracapacitors are made of activated carbon
and have an energy density
of six watt-hours per kilogram (for comparison a high-performance lithium-ion battery can achieve 200 watt-hours per kilogram, but the ultracapacitor bus is about 40% cheaper than a lithium-ion battery bus and far more reliable).
There is also a plug-in hybrid version, which also uses ultracaps.
RATP, the public-owned company that manages most of Paris
' public transport system, is currently performing tests using a hybrid bus outfitted with ultracapacitors. The model, called Lion's City Hybrid, is supplied by German manufacturer MAN
.
Foton America Bus is in talks with New York City
, Chicago
, and some towns in Florida
about trialing the buses.
, the public transport
operator in Nuremberg
, Germany
tested a hybrid bus which uses a diesel-electric drive system with electric double-layer capacitors.
Since 2003 Mannheim Stadtbahn in Mannheim
, Germany has operated a capa vehicle, an LRV (light-rail vehicle), which uses electric double-layer capacitors to store braking energy.
Other companies from the public transport manufacturing sector are developing electric double-layer capacitor technology: The Transportation Systems division of Siemens AG
is developing a mobile energy storage
based on ELDCs called Sibac Energy Storage and also Sitras SES, a stationary version integrated into the trackside power supply. The company Cegelec is also developing an ELDC-based energy storage system.
Proton Power Systems has created the world's first triple hybrid forklift truck
, which uses fuel cell
s and batteries
as primary energy storage with ELDCs to supplement them.
University of Southampton
spin-out Nanotecture has received a Government grant to develop supercapacitors for hybrid vehicle
s. The company is set to receive £376,000 from the DTI in the UK for a project entitled “next generation supercapacitors for hybrid vehicle applications”. The project also involves Johnson Matthey
and HILTech Developments. The project will use supercapacitor technology to improve hybrid electric vehicles and increase overall energy efficiency
structures that give the devices more surface area for holding a charge. So far they are able to get twice the energy density of an existing ultracapacitor, but they are trying to get about five times. This would create an ultracapacitor with one-quarter of the energy density of a lithium-ion battery.
Future developments includes the use of inductive charging
under the street, to avoid overhead wiring. A pad
under each bus stop
and at each stop light along the way would be used.
's concept prototype, to store rapidly available energy with their high power density
, in order to keep batteries within safe resistive heating limits and extend battery life. The Ultrabattery combines a supercapacitor and a battery in a single unit, creating an electric vehicle battery that lasts longer, costs less and is more powerful than current technologies used in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).
Vehicle
A vehicle is a device that is designed or used to transport people or cargo. Most often vehicles are manufactured, such as bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft....
that uses supercapacitor
Supercapacitor
An electric double-layer capacitor , also known as supercapacitor, supercondenser, electrochemical double layer capacitor, or ultracapacitor, is an electrochemical capacitor with relatively high energy density. Their energy density is typically hundreds of times greater than conventional...
s (also called ultracapacitors) to store electricity.
the best ultracapacitors can only store about 5% of the energy that lithium-ion rechargeable batteries can, limiting them to a couple of miles per charge. This makes them ineffective as a general energy storage medium for passenger vehicles. But ultracapacitors can charge much faster than batteries
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
, so in vehicles such as bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
es that have to stop frequently at known points where charging facilities can be provided, energy storage based exclusively on ultracapacitors becomes viable.
Capabus
ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
is experimenting with a new form of electric bus, known as Capabus, which runs without continuous overhead lines
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
(is an autonomous vehicle) by using power stored in large onboard electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs), which are quickly recharged whenever the vehicle stops at any bus stop
Bus stop
A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage...
(under so-called electric umbrellas), and fully charged in the terminus
Bus terminus
A bus terminus is a designated place where a bus or coach starts or ends its scheduled route. The terminus is the designated place that a timetable is timed from. Termini can be located at bus stations, interchanges, bus garages or simple bus stops. Termini can both start and stop at the same...
.
A few prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
s were being tested in Shanghai in early 2005. In 2006 two commercial bus routes began to use electric double-layer capacitor buses; one of them is route 11 in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. In 2009 Sinautec Automobile Technologies, based in Arlington, Virginia, and its Chinese partner Shanghai Aowei Technology Development Company are testing, with 17 forty-one seat Ultracap Buses serving the Greater Shanghai area since 2006 without any major technical problems. Buses in the Shanghai pilot are made by Germantown, Tennessee
Germantown, Tennessee
Germantown is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee. The population was 38,844 at the 2010 census.Germantown is a suburb of Memphis, bordering it to the east. Germantown's economy is dominated by the retail and commercial service sectors; there is no heavy industry in Germantown...
-based Foton America Bus Company Another 60 buses will be delivered early next year with ultracapacitors that supply 10 watt-hours per kilogram
Watt-hour per kilogram
The watt-hour per kilogram is a unit of specific energy commonly used to measure the density of energy in batteries and other capacitors. One watt-hour per kilogram is equal to 3600 joules per kilogram....
.
The buses have very predictable routes and need to stop regularly every 3 miles (4.8 km) or less, allowing quick recharging at charging station
Charging station
An electric vehicle charging station, also called EV charging station, electric recharging point, charging point and EVSE , is an element in an infrastructure that supplies electric energy for the recharging of electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric-gasoline vehicles) or semi-static and mobile...
s at bus stops. A collector on the top of the bus rises a few feet and touches an overhead charging line at the stop; within a couple of minutes the ultracapacitor banks stored under the bus seats are fully charged. The buses can also capture energy from braking, and the company says that recharging stations can be equipped with solar panels. A third generation of the product, which will give 20 miles (32.2 km) of range per charge or better is planned.
Sinautec estimates that one of its buses has one-tenth the energy cost of a diesel bus and can achieve lifetime fuel savings of $200,000. The buses use 40% less electricity even than an electric trolley bus, mainly because they are lighter and have the regenerative braking benefits. The ultracapacitors are made of activated carbon
Activated carbon
Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, activated coal or carbo activatus, is a form of carbon that has been processed to make it extremely porous and thus to have a very large surface area available for adsorption or chemical reactions.The word activated in the name is sometimes replaced...
and have an energy density
Energy density
Energy density is a term used for the amount of energy stored in a given system or region of space per unit volume. Often only the useful or extractable energy is quantified, which is to say that chemically inaccessible energy such as rest mass energy is ignored...
of six watt-hours per kilogram (for comparison a high-performance lithium-ion battery can achieve 200 watt-hours per kilogram, but the ultracapacitor bus is about 40% cheaper than a lithium-ion battery bus and far more reliable).
There is also a plug-in hybrid version, which also uses ultracaps.
RATP, the public-owned company that manages most of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
' public transport system, is currently performing tests using a hybrid bus outfitted with ultracapacitors. The model, called Lion's City Hybrid, is supplied by German manufacturer MAN
Man
The term man is used for an adult human male . However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole...
.
Foton America Bus is in talks with New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, and some towns in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
about trialing the buses.
Other deployments
In 2001 and 2002 VAGVAG
VAG is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to:* Freiburger Verkehrs AG, the municipal transport company of the city of Freiburg, Germany.* Vereinigte Astronomische Gesellschaft, United Astronomical Society...
, the public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
operator in Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
tested a hybrid bus which uses a diesel-electric drive system with electric double-layer capacitors.
Since 2003 Mannheim Stadtbahn in Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
, Germany has operated a capa vehicle, an LRV (light-rail vehicle), which uses electric double-layer capacitors to store braking energy.
Other companies from the public transport manufacturing sector are developing electric double-layer capacitor technology: The Transportation Systems division of Siemens AG
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....
is developing a mobile energy storage
Energy storage
Energy storage is accomplished by devices or physical media that store some form of energy to perform some useful operation at a later time. A device that stores energy is sometimes called an accumulator....
based on ELDCs called Sibac Energy Storage and also Sitras SES, a stationary version integrated into the trackside power supply. The company Cegelec is also developing an ELDC-based energy storage system.
Proton Power Systems has created the world's first triple hybrid forklift truck
Forklift truck
A forklift is a powered industrial truck used to lift and transport materials. The modern forklift was developed in the 1920s by various companies including the transmission manufacturing company Clark and the hoist company Yale & Towne Manufacturing...
, which uses fuel cell
Fuel cell
A fuel cell is a device that converts the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen or another oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most common fuel, but hydrocarbons such as natural gas and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used...
s and batteries
Battery (electricity)
An electrical battery is one or more electrochemical cells that convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first battery in 1800 by Alessandro Volta and especially since the technically improved Daniell cell in 1836, batteries have become a common power...
as primary energy storage with ELDCs to supplement them.
University of Southampton
University of Southampton
The University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England, a member of the Russell Group. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902, the Institution developed...
spin-out Nanotecture has received a Government grant to develop supercapacitors for hybrid vehicle
Hybrid vehicle
A hybrid vehicle is a vehicle that uses two or more distinct power sources to move the vehicle. The term most commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles , which combine an internal combustion engine and one or more electric motors.-Power:...
s. The company is set to receive £376,000 from the DTI in the UK for a project entitled “next generation supercapacitors for hybrid vehicle applications”. The project also involves Johnson Matthey
Johnson Matthey
Johnson Matthey plc is multinational chemicals and precious metals company headquartered in London, United Kingdom.It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.-History:...
and HILTech Developments. The project will use supercapacitor technology to improve hybrid electric vehicles and increase overall energy efficiency
Future developments
Sinautec is in discussions with MIT's Schindall about developing ultracapacitors of higher energy density using vertically aligned carbon nanotubeCarbon nanotube
Carbon nanotubes are allotropes of carbon with a cylindrical nanostructure. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1, significantly larger than for any other material...
structures that give the devices more surface area for holding a charge. So far they are able to get twice the energy density of an existing ultracapacitor, but they are trying to get about five times. This would create an ultracapacitor with one-quarter of the energy density of a lithium-ion battery.
Future developments includes the use of inductive charging
Inductive charging
Inductive charging uses an electromagnetic field to transfer energy between two objects. This is usually done with a charging station. Energy is sent through inductive coupling to an electrical device, which then can use that energy to charge batteries....
under the street, to avoid overhead wiring. A pad
Pad
Pad or PAD may refer to:* Writing pad, a book of paper* Sanitary pad, a device worn by a woman during menstruation-Transportation:* Launch pad, an area where spacecraft lifts off* Helicopter landing pad...
under each bus stop
Bus stop
A bus stop is a designated place where buses stop for passengers to board or leave a bus. These are normally positioned on the highway and are distinct from off-highway facilities such as bus stations. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage...
and at each stop light along the way would be used.
Motor racing
The FIA, the governing body for many motor racing events, proposed in the Power-Train Regulation Framework for Formula 1 version 1.3 of 23 May 2007 that a new set of power train regulations be issued that includes a hybrid drive of up to 200 kW input and output power using "superbatteries" made with both batteries and supercapacitors.UltraBatteries
Ultracapacitors are used in some electric vehicles, such as AFS TrinityAFS Trinity
AFS Trinity Power Corporation is an American corporation headquartered in Medina, WA with an engineering center in Livermore, CA that develops technology for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The company has developed PHEV technology that actively combines batteries with ultracapacitors...
's concept prototype, to store rapidly available energy with their high power density
Power density
Power density is the amount of power per unit volume....
, in order to keep batteries within safe resistive heating limits and extend battery life. The Ultrabattery combines a supercapacitor and a battery in a single unit, creating an electric vehicle battery that lasts longer, costs less and is more powerful than current technologies used in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).
See also
- ChargeCar
- In-road electric vehicle charger
- electric busElectric busAn electric bus is a bus powered by electricity.There are two main electric bus categories:* Non-autonomous electric buses:**The trolleybus is a type of electric bus powered by two overhead electric wires, with electricity being drawn from one wire and returned via the other wire, using two...
- supercapacitorSupercapacitorAn electric double-layer capacitor , also known as supercapacitor, supercondenser, electrochemical double layer capacitor, or ultracapacitor, is an electrochemical capacitor with relatively high energy density. Their energy density is typically hundreds of times greater than conventional...