CARS POWERED BY OWN BODY PARTS

MELBOURNE: A car powered by its own body panels such as roof, doors and bonnet could soon hit the roads, thanks to new lightweight ‘supercapacitors’ developed by researchers. The ‘supercapacitors’ can be combined with regular batteries to dramatically boost the power of an electric car. The supercapacitors — a “sandwich” of electrolyte between two all-carbon electrodes — were made into a thin and extremely strong film with a high power density. The film could be embedded in a car’s body panels, roof, doors, bonnet and floor — storing enough energy to turbocharge an electric car’s battery.