Evaluation of SAFT America, Inc. electrochemical capacitors

The electrochemical capacitor devices described in this report were deliverables from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Contract No. 4606510 with SAFT America, Inc., as part of LBNL`s exploratory research program. Dr. Kimio Kinoshita is the Program Manager at LBNL. The contract was in support of the US Department of Energy`s (DOE) exploratory electrochemical energy storage program which includes development projects for a wide variety of advanced high-energy/high-power energy storage systems for electric and hybrid vehicle programs. The DOE is currently developing various electrochemical capacitors as candidate power assist devices for the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV) fast-response engine requirements. The LBNL contract with SAFT America, Inc., was intended to evaluate various activated carbon-based electrode formulations and develop an electrical model of the double-layer capacitor. The goal is to design and deliver prototypes meeting the DOE requirement of > 1,000 W/kg, 16 Wh/kg. Deliverables were sent to the INEEL EST laboratory for independent testing and evaluation. The following report describes performance testing on ten devices received September 2, 1996. Due to the initial performance of these early devices, life-cycle testing was not conducted. Additional devices, with improved performance, are expected to be tested. Future results will be reported in a follow-on report