This innovative advancement on conventional battery design delivers low cost, long life, high performance power and provides a solution for future energy storage needs.
The UltraBattery is a hybrid energy storage device that integrates a supercapacitor with a lead acid battery in one unit cell.
This unique design harnesses the best of both technologies to produce a battery that can provide high power discharge and charge with a long, low-cost life.
Developed by CSIRO Energy Technology as part of the Energy Transformed Flagship research program, the UltraBattery has applications for use in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) with further research aimed at resolving issues of intermittency in capturing energy produced from renewable sources.
Powering low emission transport
Integrating a conventional car engine with a battery powered electric motor means HEV technology achieves the dual environmental benefit of reducing both greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption from transport.
This unique design harnesses the best of both supercapacitor and lead acid battery technologies to produce a battery that can provide high power discharge and charge with a long, low-cost life.
The UltraBattery offers a number of advantages over conventional car batteries:
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cycle life is four times longer
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50 per cent more power than lead acid batteries counterparts
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approximately 70 per cent less expensive than current HEV battery systems
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faster charge and discharge rates.
Recent testing undertaken in the United Kingdom has further proved the UltraBattery’s capabilities with a HEV surpassing 100 000 miles under strict and challenging conditions, using the power of the advanced battery system.
CSIRO will conduct further research to improve UltraBattery technology, making it lighter, more efficient and capable of setting new performance standards for HEVs.
Solutions for renewable energy storage
Energy derived from renewable sources offers the potential for a low emission, sustainable future.
UltraBattery technology could overcome the issue of intermittent power generation associated with wind and solar, which remains a fundamental road block for the widespread uptake of renewable energy resources such as these.
The UltraBattery can be integrated into wind power systems to smooth intermittency and potentially ‘time-shift’ energy production to better match demand.
Field tests for the wind energy storage application are being conducted at the CSIRO Energy Centre in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
A similar application is expected to be developed for solar energy production.
UltraBattery commercialisation
CSIRO has signed an UltraBattery commercialisation and distribution agreement with Japan's Furukawa Battery Company and United States manufacturer, East Penn.
The exclusive sub-license agreement will see the UltraBattery distributed by East Penn to the automotive and motive power sector throughout North America, Mexico and Canada while Furukawa Battery Company will release the technology in Japan and Thailand.
The technology is scheduled to be commercially available in the automotive market and for motive power applications throughout these regions within two years.
The UltraBattery is not yet licensed in Australia for automotive applications. CSIRO is accepting expressions of interest for manufacture and distribution of the technology in this region.
CSIRO is part of a technology start-up that will develop and commercialise battery-based storage solutions for these energy sources.
Learn more about CSIRO's work with Energy Generation & Storage.
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