AFS Trinity Power Corporation said a plug-in hybrid vehicle that used AFS’ combination of ultracapacitors and lithium ion batteries would have a useful life six times greater than plug-ins that used Li-Ion batteries alone.
The firm said the efficacy of its “Extreme Hybrid” technology was confirmed by an independent battery testing laboratory, Mobile Power Solutions. The results were 150,000 miles for the Extreme Hybrid versus 25,000 without ultracapacitors.
"Off-the-shelf lithium ion batteries in cars incorporating our patent-pending dual-energy storage technology will probably last for the entire life of the vehicle, whereas the lithium batteries of conventional plug-ins with battery-only technology will need to be replaced every 25,000 miles,” claimed AFS Trinity chief executive officer Edward W. Furia.
"Batteries are the single most expensive part of an electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid EV,” said David Shemmans, chief executive officer of Ricardo. “From a cost standpoint, replacing the batteries is analogous to replacing the engine in an internal combustion car.” Ricardo provided drive train integration support to AFS while helping the firm develop its XH150 prototype vehicle.
Furia said that resistive heating occurs when the battery in a plug-in hybrid is subjected to high current demands. Resistive heating can become excessive with stop and go driving. It can damage the battery and, if not destroy it, reduce the number of miles that can be driven during the life of the battery.
“In our system, the high current demand events are handled by the ultracapacitor, allowing the battery essentially to coast,” Furia said. “Between such high current events, the battery trickled power into the ultracap, so that when the next acceleration occurs the ultracap is ready to handle it."