No Flux Capacitor Yet, But Supercapacitors May Power Future Hybrids

Valeo SA and PSA Peugeot Citroen are using them to add propulsion power to a cheap mild-hybrid system that would double the power of Valeo’s Stop & Start technology and allow it to accept braking energy and provide torque boost through the alternator belt.

Supercapacitors long have been discussed as a way to capture braking energy, because they can endure perhaps millions of charge-recharge cycles, and because they accept and discharge electricity faster than a battery.