Body Integrated Supercapacitor for Next Generation of Electric Vehicles

The energy storage has long been the most critical challenge for electric vehicles or hybrid electric vehicles. There is a new trend of using supercapacitors to complement or even replace batteries as energy storage devices to improve the vehicles’ performance. PolyU’s Body Integrated Supercapacitor enables manufacturers to make use of space in car body to maximize energy storage. Special packaging and built-in power electronics technologies have been developed to produce supercapacitor modules with new structure. As curved supercapacitor modules can be produced using the new technologies, supercapacitors can be integrated into car body panels, such as the roof, doors and the trunk lid.

In addition, new energy storage balancing technologies have been invented, which can reduce energy loss and the size of energy balancing circuit in the systems of energy storage devices. A series of related technologies were also developed, such as charging and discharging control, as well as connections with other energy storage system. Due to such developments, the Body Integrated Supercapacitor is compatible with and applicable in various electric vehicles.