(iTers News) - Maxwell Technologies, Inc won a U$2.68 million cost-shared technology development contract with the United States Advanced Battery Consortium LLC (USABC) to develop a high-performance hybrid ultracapacitor/lithium-ion battery for stop-start idle-elimination microhybrid autos.
USABC is a subsidiary of the United States Council for Automotive Research LLC (USCAR), the collaborative automotive technology organization for Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company and General Motors.
With funding provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, USABC's mission is to develop electrochemical energy storage technologies that support commercialization of electric, hybrid-electric and fuel cell vehicles.
Under the terms of the contract, Maxwell will share a 51% of the program funding. And, the battery maker will conduct the technological and economic feasibility study of a 12-volt hybrid energy storage system. 
Of particular interest are ultracapacitors' high power density, long operational lifetime, low-temperature performance and influence on battery performance and lifetime.
Unlike batteries, which produce and store energy by means of a chemical reaction, ultracapacitors store energy in an electric field.
This electrostatic energy storage mechanism enables ultracapacitors to charge and discharge in as little as fractions of a second, perform normally over a broad temperature range (-40°C to +65°C), operate reliably through one million or more charge/discharge cycles and resist shock and vibration.
"High-performance, low-cost energy storage systems will be instrumental in meeting growing worldwide demand for more fuel-efficient, lower-emission vehicles," said Dr. Franz Fink, Maxwell's president and chief executive officer. "The hybrid battery this program aims to create could be instrumental in strengthening U.S. automakers' competitive position within a global auto industry that annually produces more than 60 million cars."