30 January 2007

More Ultracapacitor Based Vehicles

A week ago, I'd never heard of an ultracapacitor.

A few days ago, I hear that an upstart Texas company could revolutionize the electric vehicle market with them.

Now, the Mack Truck subsidiary of Volvo is building a hybrid diesel-electric commercial truck prototype that features them. The Mack hybrid demonstration adds a lot of credibility to the earlier story, whose critics focused on the technological hurdles associated with the practical applications of ultracapacitors.

The notion of a big hybrid commercial truck was a domino waiting to fall. There is no scale issue with hybrid diesel-electric technology. Locomotives on freight trains have been using them for years. But, the ultracacitor twist is notable.

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