QUT Researchers Developing ‘Body-Powered’ Electric Cars
Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) are close to developing ‘body-powered’ car panels, thanks to a technical breakthrough. The university has developed a lightweight ‘super-capacitor’, which it says can
Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) are close to developing ‘body-powered’ car panels, thanks to a technical breakthrough.
The university has developed a lightweight ‘super-capacitor’, which it says can be combined with existing electric vehicle batteries to dramatically boost output.
The super-capacitor is a ‘sandwich’ of electrolytes between two all-carbon electrodes, and is thin yet extremely strong with a high power density.
This allows them to be grouped and stored inside roof, door and floor panels in cars, where they can provide a burst of energy to the EV’s battery for improved acceleration and speed up charging times to just a few minutes.
Eventually, super-capacitors could work without the usual stack of lithium-ion batteries and provide up to 500km of range. They also weigh a fraction of what conventional batteries do, meaning future EVs could be much lighter.
Technology