Maxwell Technologies (NASDAQ: MXWL) has announced a joint development agreement with Corning (NYSE: GLW) with the goal of advancing the state of capacitive energy storage technology.

Maxwell brings expertise in ultracapacitor cell design and a growing presence in the energy storage market to the partnership, while Corning is a specialist in high-performance materials, and has a long history of serving the transportation industry with emissions control products.

Ultracapacitors have a lot of potential to complement batteries in various electromobility applications – they can charge and discharge in fractions of a second, can perform over a broad temperature range (-40° to +65° C), and can last for a million or more charge/discharge cycles. Maxwell offers ultracapacitor cells ranging in capacitance from one to 3,400 farads and multi-cell modules ranging from 12 to 160 volts.

“Joining forces with a company of Corning’s quality and strength promises to be a game-changing event for Maxwell,” said CEO Dr Franz Fink. “We believe that this alliance will create tremendous value for customers and will move the competitive bar much higher in the years ahead.”  

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Corning has been interested in the versatility of ultracapacitors since at least 2010, when its researchers published a paper on the technology, and has a number of ultracap-related patents.

“Corning has invested significant time and resources to establish this new business initiative because we see great potential in capacitive energy storage,” said Corning’s Doug Harshbarger. “Our agreement brings us together to accelerate the pace of innovation.”

Source: Maxwell Technologies via Green Car Congress