Ohm has worked up a drop-in replacement for car battery

phys.org ^ | August 14, 2015 | Nancy Owano

[Red Badger]

New car battery ping!...........Winter is coming...............

[Mr. K]

but your car better be tuned up and start on the first try

[RKBA Democrat]

Kewl. Amazing that no one has come up with a better alternative...until maybe now.

[ConservativeInPA]

Sounds like a great idea as long as tax dollars are not involved. Perhaps through economies of scale the price will come down.

[blackdog]

Starting capacitors are great. Until you let the smoke out.

[Yo-Yo]

Nope. No thanks in Snow Country. Supercapacitors may give you one good crank, but sometimes cold cars need a few tries.

[blackdog]

"but your car better be tuned up and start on the first try"

Bingo! We have a Debbie Downer.........../s

[ShadowAce]

[dangus]

I’ll get excited when I see a manufacturer buy Ohms. Until then, it’s as good as “vaporware” to me. I’m not knocking the idea specifically; could be fantastic. I’m just saying that if it *is* fantastic, experts will start buying it. And by experts, I don’t mean hobbyists who invest $200; I mean people who invest tens of millions.

[jsanders2001]

Chrome coated terminals is probably not the best idea...: )

[Red Badger]

Look for an IPO.................

[dangus]

“and they plan to roll out a crowdfunding campaign in the next month or so.”

Translation:

“And they can’t find traditional investors.”

[Red Badger]

Why?..............

[Lake Living]

You can get about 4 regular car batteries for that price. That’s like 12 yrs., longer if you live in a warmer climate.

[PapaBear3625]

How it works: There is a "burst of energy" for starting the engine which comes from a bank of supercapacitors. When the engine is not running, the supercapacitors are kept charged by a small array of batteries.

How well will that work if the car is not started for a month or two?

[Red Badger]

Perhaps these guys don’t want to hassle with investors over control of the product. It happens...............

[Lazamataz]

I hate this technology. If God wanted us to have capacitors, he’d have miracled us some. GOD HATES THIS TECHNOLOGY.

[Revel]

Lead acid batteries last a lot more than 3 years in some places. I Often get more than the 7 they are advertising. I just replaced one that lasted a whopping 15 years. Although that was an oddity.

[cicero2k]

I recently purchased a 12 year old Honda Civic and took it in for preventive battery replacement. I was shocked when told battery was original equipment installed in Japan.

So much for the 3 year life mantra (which is true for Chrysler minivans).