Comments for Paris Using Ultracapacitors in Buses at http://www.ecogeek.org , comment 1 to 8 out of 8 comments http://www.ecogeek.org Sat, 18 May 2013 21:24:15 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.ecogeek.org/automobiles/2688#comment-28922 sounds difficult, always remember something good may be eliminated to adjust to weight and making it lighter - Fred Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:27:50 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/automobiles/2688#comment-26176 Tks to say your source for the picture - Blog en Commun Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:58:07 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/automobiles/2688#comment-26082 I think that adding ultracaps to capture braking energy, to a plugin hybrid bus that has the batteries storing energy to provide baseload energy would save you a ton of gas. - nuvi Thu, 16 Apr 2009 09:01:54 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/automobiles/2688#comment-26075 Theoretically, they are ideal for transportation you said before. My 2 cents as a physicist is that ultracapacitors are able to accept more current (generated from braking) when charging instead of LiIon batteries which implement special circuitry to avoid damaging to the battery cells. I am quite skeptical as we really haven't seen any real breakthroughs in ultracapacitor technology - hyperspaced Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:25:59 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/automobiles/2688#comment-26073 Sounds great.. maybe in future we won't see huge plumes of smoke coming from the back of buses and trucks. I imagine that the fuel savings will be quite great. - Bob Thu, 16 Apr 2009 04:09:00 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/automobiles/2688#comment-26065 So, my understanding is this. Since a bus makes frequent starts and stops it will help. When starting, an engine is required to provide a great deal of torque (especially when weights). Ultracaps can discharge very quickly thus providing plenty of POWER (not energy) to an electric motor to create this torque. Then when stopping by using the brakes, the braking mechanism can be using the momentum to turn a generator (perhaps just the motor acting in reverse). The Ultracaps can also charge very quickly thus accepting a larger ammount of the energy at a higher charging rate(power) than traditional batteries can accommodate. Seems like a great idea since busses are already large and carry plenty of weight. That is the downfall of Ultracaps, they don't store a lot of ENERGY so they can discharge fairly rapidly... esentially the gas engine could primarily be used for cruising, which I believe is where it's most efficient anyways (hence highway mpg is greater than city mpg) - Sean Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:44:43 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/automobiles/2688#comment-26063 My understanding of ultracapacitors is that they're just better suited than batteries for rapid charge and discharge, which is consistent with the way a vehicle moves (e.g. rapid starts). Maybe someone with a physics background could explain why this might reduce a hybrid's fuel consumption? - Steve Wed, 15 Apr 2009 18:36:43 +0100 http://www.ecogeek.org/automobiles/2688#comment-26062 The article made no mention of whether or not the buses "without passengers" were loaded with what is the normalized average passenger per mile equivalent load weight. If not, then the tests won't give an accurate picture of the possible fuel savings. - Edwin Wed, 15 Apr 2009 17:41:25 +0100