Reshared post from +Ford Racing

Two classic Cobra Jet images celebrating the debut of the 1968 Cobra Jet Mustang at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona CA

Super-capacitors are just one of the many hoped for silver bullets to make electric vehicles a viable mainstream option for consumers. The reason everyone wants capacitors is their ability to absorb energy rapidly without degrading the way batteries do. An ideal capacitor energy storage would have huge capacity that could be replenished in just minutes the way we fill a fuel tank today. 

Unfortunately large capacitors have remained both stubbornly expensive and short on total energy storage capacity. Mazda may well have the best near term application for capacitors in its oddly-named i-ELOOP system. Like the brake energy recuperation systems that have become common in Europe in recent years, i-ELOOP let's the alternator mostly coast when then vehicle is cruising or accelerating to minimize the parasitic load on the engine. 

Once the driver releases the accelerator, the alternator switches modes to charge the battery while absorbing kinetic energy from the vehicle as it slows. Previous systems have relied on larger capacity advanced glass matt batteries like those typically used on cars with automatic start stop. Even these AGM batteries have limits on how fast they can absorb energy. Since the braking periods of the vehicle tend to be limited in duration, the total energy recovered is reduced. 

Using a capacitor as the energy sink potentially allows more of the available energy to be absorbed in less time optimizing the system. I'll be curious to see how much of a real world benefit drivers of the Mazda6 get with this system. 

Tesla CEO +Elon Musk has delivered his promised response to Broder's recent report where the Times writer claimed the Model S fell short of its range estimates and left him stranded and it looks really bad for the writer. 

Assuming the data accurately reflects what actually happened, Broder clearly fudged his story in many ways. As with Mike Daisey and his debunked story about Apple manufacturing, a writer has apparently taken major liberties with the truth and ruined what could have been a very good and informative story.

Tesla deserves a great deal of credit for creating a remarkable purpose built electric vehicle that in many ways is among the most technologically advanced in the world. What will almost certainly get lost in this mess is that drivers considering electric vehicles in the near term still need to be aware of some major things that are very different from ICE-powered vehicles. 

The spacing of the first batch of Tesla Supercharger stations works only with the longest-range version of the Model S. Customers that opt for the 40 or 60 kWh battery versions will still need to make plans to find charging stations along the way if they want to take a road trip and the same applies to drivers of all the other battery electric vehicles that have shorter ranges. 

All vehicles take an efficiency hit when it gets cold, but battery powered vehicles are hit harder because they don't have a source of waste heat to take care of from the engine. If you live somewhere that gets winters, make sure you take that into account when considering whether an EV will work for your commute.

I'm also still strongly opposed to Tesla's decision to use a proprietary charging connector instead of the industry standard J1772 connector. That means drivers of other EVs will have to use adapters if they want to take advantage of the SuperCharger stations. 

Finally, all reviewers from now on should assume that they are being logged. Don't make up bullshit stories.