Ultra Capacitors 101
How An Ultra Capacitor Works Ultra capacitors & Super Capacitors store electricity by physically separating positive and negative charges— different from batteries which do so chemically. The charge they hold is like the static electricity that can build up on a balloon, but is much greater thanks to the extremely high surface area of their interior materials. An advantage of the ultracapacitor is their super fast rate of charge and discharge... which is determined solely by their physical properties. A battery relies on a slower chemical reaction for energy. A disadvantage of an ultracapacitor is that currently they store a smaller amount of energy than a battery does. Ultracapacitors are very good at efficiently capturing electricity from regenerative braking, and can deliver power for acceleration just as quickly. With no moving parts, they also have a very long lifespan - 500,000 plus charge/recharge cycles. Ultracapacitors are currently used for wind energy, solar energy, and ...