News

Solectria and Maxwell Tech to Develop Hybrid-Electric Drive Systems

May 01, 2001 by Jeff Shepard

Solectria Corp. (Wilmington, MA) has signed a strategic development and supply agreement with Maxwell Technologies (San Diego, CA) to collaboratively develop hybrid-electric drive systems incorporating Maxwell's PowerCache ultracapacitors. The agreement calls for Maxwell to deliver several thousand ultracapacitor cells immediately.

James Worden, Solectria's CEO, said that Solectria also plans to develop standard power packs, consisting of 100 to 300 PowerCache ultracapacitors, which will be fully compatible with drive systems produced by Solectria and other manufacturers. Worden said that a key initial target application for Solectria's ultracapacitor-based hybrid-electric drive systems is the 100,000 vehicle-per-year medium-sized bus and truck powertrain market.

“Pairing Solectria's advanced power and thermal management technology with the PowerCache energy storage and power delivery technology will enable us to provide high-performance, cost-effective, solid-state electrical energy solutions, both for hybrid-electric and fuel cell vehicles and for distributed-generation applications in the electric power industry," Worden said.

Carl Eibl, president and CEO of Maxwell, commented that this strategic relationship is another important step in the long-term transportation strategy the company outlined earlier this year. He added, “Solectria has demonstrated its ability to be at the forefront of delivering energy storage and power delivery solutions for the transportation industry, and we are excited about the opportunities we can address through this collaboration."