MILTON, Ga., and SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Exide Technologies, a global leader in stored electrical energy solutions, and Maxwell Technologies Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of ultracapacitor products, today announced the formation of a strategic alliance. The two companies will work together in the development and marketing of advanced, integrated, battery-ultracapacitor energy storage solutions to be used in a wide array of transportation and industrial applications.
Visitors to The Battery Show this week in Novi, Mich., are invited to visit Exide Technologies (booth No. B850) and Maxwell Technologies (booth No. B520) to see the first of these products.
Principal elements of the strategic alliance include:
•Joint identification and evaluation of market opportunities for integrated products;
•Collaborative product development and testing; and
•Joint calls on prospective customers to establish demonstration projects.
"The integrated products developed through our alliance with Maxwell Technologies will provide a wide range of benefits for users who require the most that today’s battery technology has to offer," said Paul Cheeseman, Exide’s vice president, global engineering and research. "These benefits will include high-energy density, rapid charging and discharging, extended operational life and superior performance in extreme temperatures."
Exide is one of the few battery companies to provide product offerings across a range of applications in both the transportation and industrial markets. With its AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) technology that allows for deep cycling combined with high charge acceptance, Exide supports Start-Stop vehicles, energy recuperation, intelligent charging and other advanced power train features to reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.
"Exide’s battery technology leadership, extensive manufacturing capabilities, established global distribution channels and strong existing industrial and transportation customer relationships make it an ideal alliance partner," said David Schramm, Maxwell’s president and CEO. "We have always believed in the synergistic nature of ultracapacitors and batteries, and this relationship will enable us to significantly accelerate development of products embodying the benefits of both technologies."
Maxwell’s ultracapacitor products store energy in an electric field, which is unlike batteries that produce and store energy by means of a chemical reaction. 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 to +65 Celsius), and operate reliably for one million or more charge/discharge cycles. Maxwell offers ultracapacitor cells ranging in capacitance from one to 3,000 farads and multi-cell modules ranging from 16 to 125 volts.
