Safety-Critical Systems Demand New Approach to Backup Power

Today’s vehicles increasingly include automated driving features and are moving toward hands-off or even fully autonomous driving. These technologies require high levels of functional safety so that a vehicle does not become a hazard in the event of a single-point or multipoint failure scenario. Designing for those scenarios presents major engineering challenges, including providing safety-critical components with highly reliable and fail-operational electrical power.

Enter the ultracapacitor — a compact, lightweight energy storage unit that can stabilize a vehicle’s 12V or 48V powernet while also supplying emergency power to safety-sensitive components should a collision or electrical failure occur. Coupling long-life ultracapacitors to the 12V powernet through a multiphase bidirectional DC-toDC converter allows the module to both absorb and deliver electrical power.

This approach has distinct advantages over battery technology. Ultracapacitors weigh less than lead-acid batteries, are less expensive than lithium-ion batteries, have a much longer lifespan than either type and are ideally suited for quick bursts of power.

In short, such a module is the natural choice to meet the requirements of today’s vehicles, which increasingly rely on electrical power to perform functions that are essential for consumers’ safety.