Super-capacitors take charge in Germany

Supercapacitors are power-storage devices that can supply onboard electrical power in hybrid vehicles, such as those in Stadtbahn trams in Mannheim, Germany. These trams have been profiting from the benefits of supercapacitors from and are now joined by a number of other public-transportation systems in the country and other places. upercapacitor technology is deployed on Spanish and French trains, along with hybrid buses all over the world and on construction equipment, such as cranes, and on garbage-collection trucks. It can reduce the effective carbon-dioxide emissions by around 30% on buses, while MAN, the heavy-vehicle manufacturer from Munich estimates that its supercapacitor-fitted coaches save around $4,500 a year on fuel costs. The company has also been developing hybrid supercapacitor buses, called the Lion's City Hybrid.