Super capacitor leads the development of automotive start-stop technology

Recently, the German mainland company and Maxwell Technologies of the United States successfully developed a voltage stabilization system (VSS) for vehicle start and stop, which can effectively solve the voltage drop problem when the vehicle is started, and ensure the normal operation of the onboard system electronic equipment.

The global car ownership has continued to increase, but on the other hand, the tail gas emissions of newly produced cars have not been significantly reduced. If you can stop the movement of the engine during a short period of time when the vehicle is stopped, and then quickly start the engine, you can avoid the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions caused by the idle speed of the engine. Actual operating data shows that such start-stop technology can effectively save fuel losses: typically 6%-8%. In crowded traffic conditions, start-stop technology plus braking energy recovery can save 16% to 18% of fuel.

It is understood that excessively low voltage will affect the normal operation of the on-board electronic equipment, so ensuring the stability of the voltage when the vehicle is restarted is a key to achieving start-stop technology. VSS uses Maxwell's two 1200F supercapacitor cells. The two series cells and the battery are separate. When the car starts, when the current is too high or the voltage drop is too great, the super capacitor is put into operation and the battery is connected in series. This can lift, stabilize the system voltage of the vehicle, and can provide a larger starting current, allowing the start-up process to complete faster. (Reporter Fu Lili)