ABSTRACT
In the area of transportation the countries are constantly looking forward to alternative energy management strategies, to reduce the use of fossil fuels and to minimize atmospheric pollution. Increasing the number of conventional vehicles leads to congested road traffic and increased fuel consumption. An electric vehicle, on the other hand, provides an efficient and eco-friendly transportation. The road congestion can be minimized by the use of electric bicycles. Most of the electric bicycles are powered by either lead-acid batteries or Li-ion batteries. Lead-acid batteries have a low cost but shorter lifetime and require long charging durations. Li-ion batteries exhibit better performance than lead-acid batteries. They required smaller charging time and have a better life when compared with lead-acid batteries. The main drawbacks of Li-ion batteries are they have low power density, inability to deliver rapid power discharge, requirement of long charging time, frequent maintenance and replacement, and small life cycle. Taking into consideration these factors the immediate alternative is an ultra-capacitor. They have a long-life cycle, deep discharge, instant charging, and higher power density. The emerging technologies in the development of ultra-capacitors known as pseudo batteries like carbon nickel and carbon nanotube supercapacitors exhibits very high pulse power and more energy density. So it becomes a better alternative in the future. This paper proposes a hybrid system consists of Ultra-capacitor and battery, employed as a power source for electric bicycle drive systems with power management strategies for enhancing the battery life and driving range of the bicycle.
