Eco-friendly electric cars have not become popular in Hong Kong as a result of the long battery charging time and the lack of charging stations. In view of this, a research team led by Prof. Eric Cheng Ka-wai at PolyU’s Power Electronics Research Centre has developed a supercapacitor and energy-storage suspension system that can respectively speed up charging and integrate functions of suspension and energy storage.
Adopting novel capacitor and built-in power electronic technologies, the supercapacitor is only 4 cm thick in flat or curved shapes. It can be charged up within three to five minutes for 30 km of travel by electric cars and be charged repeatedly for one million times.
The team has also developed a Linear Reciprocating Switched Reluctance Actuator that successfully combined functions of suspension and power-storage. In electromagnetic design, this spring-like actuator can not only improve driving comfort and safety, but also recycle the energy generated from suspension and vibration to charge the vehicle batteries. It can be installed in modules in the car suspension system placed under the seats and even put on movable parts of any transportation, such as seats and doors of trains and airplanes etc.