By Steve Bush 16th August 2023
Kyocera AVX has announced a range of high-capacity supercapcitor banks with low leakage. Farad Capacitor Car Audio
“SCM Series supercapacitor modules are rated for operating temperatures from -40°C to +65°C and lifetimes that extend to millions of cycles,” according to the company. “They are also lead-free compatible, RoHS compliant, and compliant with the UL 810A standard for electrochemical capacitors.”
Initially there are five versions:
Picking the 16V 58F SCMA63K586SPPB2 as an example, maximum operating current is 21.1A at 15°C, although peak up to 249A can be handled. Capacity is 2.07Wh and it weighs 680g.
Lifetime if cycled from rated voltage to half voltage and back is 500,000 cycles at +25°C – to a 30% or less capacitance loss.
IEC 60068-2-27, 29 / IEC 60068-2-6 vibration resistance is claimed to the same capacitance change.
Active cell balancing is supported, said the company.
Applications are foreseen with batteries or alone in uninterruptable power supplies, micro-grid storage, wind turbine pitch control, energy harvesting and regenerative energy capture.
Find the 16V 58F SCMA63K586SPPB2 data sheet here
The same week, Rutronik announced supercapacitor banks optimised for high power delivery from Eaton.
Tagged with: AVX Kyocera supercapacitor
I think a few hybrid cars are doing this. The Toyota FCHV hydrogen hybrid uses them and the Lambo Sián does too. Not sure if any EVs are being made with all supercapacitors but I think we may see a combo system soon.
Thanks Benjamin I stand corrected, and will take a look at these vehicles.
Found it – Lamborghini Sian indeed – claiming that it is the first – and it does not appear to have a traction battery, just supercapacitors for brief 25kW boost, according to WhichCar here: https://www.whichcar.com.au/advice/lamborghini-sian-supercapacitor-explained
BTW, Struggling to find a Toyota FCHV supercapacitor reference – any ideas?
The article I saw it in originally: https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/tech/what-is-supercapacitor-battery-ev-and-hybrid/ I think this paper mentions it too but I can’t access it: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0313592618301371
Thanks Benjamin. That made me try a little harder, and this paper (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352152X2031940X, available in full) has this list of fuel cell + supercapacitor cars: Honda FCX, Honda FCX Clarity, Honda Clarity Fuel Cell, Toyota FCHV-adv, Toyota Mirai and Hyundai NEXO. So maybe it is fair to say that, so far, no mainstream electric cars have supercapacitors?
The Hong Kong Metro and some other Chinese lines use supercapacitors to store all the braking energy going into a station, then accelerating away again.
Thanks Mike It is nice to hear that they are being designed in. I made a bike light years ago with one – it is still working 🙂
I used them to shut down a Pi CM4 without corrupting memory. With a MT3608 boost convertor you can just drag enough energy out of a pair of them.
Morning Mike MT3608, I have not seen that before – 2A boosting from such a little chip. Mine used one of those little Zetex (now Diodes) boost converters (maybe a ZXSC310) which drained the capacitor right down to 800mV – what a neat chip, if unregulated.
Another application to add to the mental list – must be a huge bank to absorb all those Joules …pauses to search…. 17.9kWh according to this paper (https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/55049866.pdf), which glanced through and (I might have misunderstood) seems to equate to 29tonnes of capacitors
I believe that integrating supercapacitors in conjuction with regenerative braking coupled to an EV motor and with electronic controls with an EV battery system can relieve the high current drain from an EV battery during initial startup until operati g speed is achieved.
Welcome JW Sherwin The supercapacitor companies propose this idea quite a lot, but I am not aware of anywhere it has been used – do get in touch if you have an example – as batteries seemed to improve their internal resistance just quickly enough to always push supercapacitors out of EV designs. Places where very long term reliability is needed is where supercapacitors win over batteries – like in the rotating hubs of wind turbines, where I am told they store energy for emergency blade ‘feathering’ if the main power system fails.
Just came onto the article by chance : supe iinteresting.
Are such capacitors used primarily to manage surges in power grids? Saw elsewhere an alternative where energy is stored by converting it to motion : in rotating magnets.
Good morning R Moller I might be wrong, but I think they are a bit expensive for grid surges. For brief surges, grids already have a giant spinning magnetically-coupled surge leveller in the total momentum of all of the generators that are connected at any one time – exactly as you describe. Massive resistors sometimes installed to dump fast local surges as heat – I used to work around the corner from one – lots of vertical parallel metal plates.
Though I am adamantly opposed to electric vehicles I would be tempted by a mild hybrid that had super capacitor storage instead of a battery. Suzuki makes a well designed mild hybrid engine that would be a good candidate for a super capacitor.
Interesting challenge Fast Eddie Seems like supercapacitors have never quite made it into vehicles (correct me if I am wrong) because their ability to deliver and absorb huge current pulses batteries has been offset by improvements in the way batteries can deliver and absorb current. A big box of supercaps might give a little Suzuki great acceleration if the motor could handle it 🙂
If the motor can handle it. That’s why auto start at stop lights is a bad idea. Better to idle than replace the starter every few years. Like I say, planned obsolescence or planned failure is fraud.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Get our news, blogs and comments straight to your inbox! Sign up for the Electronics Weekly newsletters: Mannerisms, Gadget Master and the Daily and Weekly roundups.
Read our special supplement celebrating 60 years of Electronics Weekly and looking ahead to the future of the industry.
Read the Electronics Weekly @ 60 supplement »
Read the first ever Electronics Weekly online: 7th September 1960. We've scanned the very first edition so you can enjoy it.
Read the very first edition »
Keep up with developments relating to space technology - satellite technology, PNT, thermal imaging, SatIoT, spaceports and more
View our busy aerospace section »
Read our special supplement celebrating 60 years of Electronics Weekly and looking ahead to the future of the industry.
Read the Electronics Weekly @ 60 supplement »
Read the first ever Electronics Weekly online: 7th September 1960. We've scanned the very first edition so you can enjoy it.
Read the very first edition »
Keep up with developments relating to the Internet of Things (IoT) - Industrial IoT, sensors, Edge AI, battery technology, SatIoT and more
Super Capacitor Car Audio View our popular Internet of Things section »