Ultracapacitor specialist Maxwell Technologies (Nasdaq: MXWL) has formed a technology partnership with Zhejiang Geely, the Chinese parent company of Volvo and Geely Auto to integrate ultracaps and power conversion electronics into Geely’s global vehicle lineup.

Geely will include Maxwell’s ultracapacitor-based peak power subsystem in five mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles for the North American and European markets, which are slated to go into production in late 2019.

The automotive industry originally adopted ultracapacitors for start-stop applications, and is now using them to deliver peak power to functions such as electric active-roll control, power steering, electro-turbocharging and energy recuperation in hybrid vehicles.

“As we prepared to bring our new features into the mainstream of our next-generation vehicles, it became evident that ultracapacitors would be essential to address the increasing electrification challenges [and] that Maxwell’s deep automotive experience and technical know-how qualified them as the only choice,” said Geely CTO Qingfeng. “The Maxwell ultracapacitor subsystem has proven to economically handle the challenging peak power demands in a way that batteries alone cannot.”

“Today’s announcement validates that ultracapacitors are ideally suited to solve many of the challenges faced by the automotive industry as it readies for electrification,” said Maxwell CEO Dr. Franz Fink.

Source: Maxwell Technologies