3 ms·
If room-temperature superconducting ever becomes a reality, then each car will be loaded with a SMES unit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic
by Xcelerate 14y ago
If room-temperature superconducting ever becomes a reality, then each car will be loaded with a SMES unit (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_energy_storage http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_energy...) that charges instantly.
- tocomment 14y agoWhy do you say that? Do SMES have better energy density?
- Xcelerate 14y agoSuperconductors have the ability to transfer electrical energy extremely quickly. Which is an ideal characteristic for a battery. I don't know enough about SMESes to say whether they are a good storage solution (assuming we could eventually develop a room temperature one).
- bathat 14y agoThey probably don't. Just as there is a critical temperature, Tc, at which superconductors stop superconducting, there is a critical current density, Ic, at which they stop superconducting. That places a limit on the amount of energy you can store in a superconducting loop. Then there is also the consideration that Ic scales as approximately 1/Tc, so high-temperature superconductors have a lower critical current density than low-temperature ones.
- Xcelerate 14y agoHuh, this is weird. Somebody downvoted this comment and my other reply. Care to explain why or are you just going to leave me mystified?
- Xcelerate 14y agoFine, go ahead whoever you are. I guess I'll just vote everyone's posts down today so maybe I'll catch yours.