Charged Up

50 years ago, most people assumed we'd be driving around in high tech electic cars. Why aren't we? Mostly due to limitations in battery technologies.

Limitations on battery technology has been holding us back in dozens of industries. But, researchers at the Laboratory for Electomagnetic and Electronic Systems (LEES) at MIT have made significant progress in resolving this problem in the form of small ultracapacitors.

Ultracapacitors have been around for over 40 years, but traditionally have been very large and expensive. LEES researchers have significantly reduced the size and cost of the ultracapacitor by vertically aligning very small, regularly shaped nanotubes, which results in more surface area on which to store a charge.

Ultracapacitors have several advantages over traditional chemical reaction batteries including:

1. 10 year + lifespan
2. indifference to temperature change
3. high immunity to shock and vibration
4. high charging and discharging efficiency

Could this development pave the way for low pollution, high performance automobiles?

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