[LINK] ultracapacitors

[rchirgwin at ozemail.com.au]

All true, Karl. So perhaps the capacitor is feasible; I still stick by 
my critique of the journalism involved, that a little quick math could 
have yielded a worthwhile question for the journalist to ask about the 
"5 minutes and 500 miles" claim, instead of just repeating the claim 
without challenge.

It may have even produced a better story!

RC

Karl Auer wrote:
> On Wed, 2007-09-05 at 11:38 +1000, Richard Chirgwin wrote:
>   
>> Yeah. Big, thick copper busbars (ha! there's also probably not enough 
>> copper lying around to kit out millions of homes with the ability to 
>> recharge something like this!).
>>     
>
> No. However, the recharge can be a lot slower if the car is just
> standing around.
>
> If these batteries are as good as they say, then I can see them being
> replaceable: Roll into the service station, slide out your old battery
> pack, slide in a new one, and you're on your way. Not a new idea, but
> very feasible. At (say) 150 kilograms for the battery pack there will
> have to be equipment to do it, but you need special equipment for petrol
> and gas too...
>
>   
>> The snake-oil isn't in the concept of high-capability capacitors, but in 
>> the "pitch" to the newsagency (in this case an Associated Press feature 
>> writer) that the "five minute" charge is actually feasible or useful for 
>> a consumer electric car.
>>     
>
> Well, it's certainly useful, and a big electrical zap is no more
> dangerous than a petrol explosion - in fact, probably less so. So I'd
> say it wasn't too far off the mark. We downgrade the risks we are
> familiar with.
>
> Even a fifteen minute (a third of the current) or half hour (a sixht of
> the current) full recharge is a HUGE advance on the 6 hours that are
> currently required.
>
> Regards, K.
>
>