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Ohm is smart enough to keep you from accidentally draining your battery if you forget to turn your lights off. It will automatically turn itself off when it gets critically low, and then switch itself back on when you go to start your car. No more getting stranded with a dead battery. Ohm also monitors and regulates itself to prolong its lifetime and accurately predict when it will need to be replaced.
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Ohm's supercapacitors deliver a powerful burst of energy directly to your starter. They work well in low temperatures because they don't rely on a chemical reaction, and they can be cycled hundreds of thousands of times. They're what ensures that your car will start every time you turn the key.
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We all know the pain of leaving your lights on and waking up to a dead battery. Ohm’s built-in circuitry monitors the supercapacitor’s potential output; if it’s ever about to reach the point that it’ll no longer be able to start your car, it’ll just turn itself off. Once you turn the key, everything will spring right back to life, no jump start required.
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Installing Ohm is easy. It goes in just like your old battery. Simply disconnect the terminals, drop in Ohm, and reconnect. Remember to connect the positive/red lead first to reduce the risk of sparking.
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For our first production run, Ohm will be available in two sizes. The primary size will fit in vehicles capable of accepting group 35 batteries. This size will fit in most cars, including those that use a size other than group 35, but may require some extra fixturing in that case. The secondary size does not conform to a typical group size and can be used to fit in smaller battery wells, but also may need fixturing. You can use this tool to find out if Ohm will work with your car:
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Once you become a backer, we will send you an email to get more information about your car, including if you need the larger or smaller size and if you need the polarity on the terminals reversed. If your vehicle requires side terminals, select the side terminal perk and we'll include adapters to use Ohm in a side terminal configuration.
Like all batteries, eventually Ohm will need to be replaced. Once it predicts the need for replacement, Ohm will give you notice a couple of days in advance by periodically beeping. This will give you an earlier and more accurate warning about Ohm's remaining lifetime than the dashboard battery light.
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Traditional car batteries rely on a chemical reaction. When they're discharged, the reaction turns chemical energy into electricity. When they're charged, the reaction is reversed. In lead-acid batteries, this process eventually results in a buildup of gunk called sulfation which reduces the lifetime of the battery. Chemical reactions also depend on temperature, since a lower temperature means the reaction happens at a slower rate. Ohm uses supercapacitors rather than batteries to provide most of the starting current. Supercapacitors don't use a chemical reaction, but instead store energy in an electrostatic field. This allows supercapacitors to have a longer lifetime, lower weight, and better performance over temperature. Ohm also has a lithium iron phosphate battery (LiFePO4) that it uses to keep the supercapacitors charged. This battery does rely on a chemical reaction, but still has over twice the lifetime of lead-acid batteries.
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Important Note: The specifications listed here are preliminary. We arrived at them through a combination of testing and calculating based on manufacturer specifications. As we continue to develop and test Ohm, some of these specifications may change.
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When we designed Ohm, we set out to not just rethink the functionality of car batteries, but also the design. Our goal was to create an elegant and distinct product that was also manufacturable and easy to scale to different battery sizes for manufacturing.
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Current Status
Currently, we have tested Ohm in a variety of vehicles and Ohm has been driven on for thousands of miles. However, there is still a lot to do. Battery management and safety circuitry has been designed, fabricated, and is in the early stages of testing. Early temperature and lifecycle testing has begun, but is not finished yet. Sensing and control for the auto shutdown and wake up process (eg preventing a dead battery) is working on the bench for our primary test car, but still needs to be integrated to the rest of the design and tested on more cars.
Early Prototypes
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Alex and Hunter are both engineers from Georgia Tech. They have worked together on a variety of robotics and electronics projects. Alex was most recently designing algorithms for high frequency trading and Hunter was leading the electrical engineering on several products at Motorola Solutions.
What are Ohms core features?
Ohm's core features are its low weight, long lifetime, superior cold weather performance, and its environmentally friendly design. It weighs six pounds, lasts about twice as long as the average lead-acid car battery, works in temperatures as low as -30C, and contains no lead or acid.
How does Ohm work?
Ohm uses EDLC supercapacitors to supply a high burst of energy to the car's starter. It also uses a small array of Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries to keep the supercapacitors charged when the car engine isn't running. These two systems are monitored and controlled by intelligent electronics that ensure optimal performance over the lifetime of the device.
Will Ohm work with my car?
Ohm is available in two sizes. The larger size has dimensions of 9.0"x6.8"x7.5", and will fit Group 35 batteries. It will also fit some additional group sizes, but may require some extra fixturing. The smaller size has dimensions of 9.0"x4.0"x7.5" and does not correspond to a particular battery group size, but may instead be used for smaller battery wells and will also likely require fixturing. To determine if your car will work with Ohm, use this tool.
How do I install Ohm?
Ohm is a drop in replacement for your existing car battery, and it's installed in the same way. Simply remove the positive and negative leads from your old battery, drop in Ohm, and reattach the lead to Ohm (red/positive lead first to prevent sparking). Make sure to tighten the mounting harness to prevent Ohm from moving during normal use.
Can I buy Ohm if I live outside the United States?
We ship to most countries for an additional shipping fee. There may be a delay for Ohm to ship to certain countries. Please consult your national customs office for specific duties and tax rates. Ohm is not responsible for any import taxes, duties, or brokerages fees which may be incurred on your international order shipment
Isn't the 10 amp hours capacity of Ohm really small? Is that enough?
Based on our experience and talking to people, we found that most people don't ever use the reserve capacity of their battery for more than a few minutes. So one of the trade offs of Ohm is that the reserve capacity is reduced from a normal battery. Since Ohm automatically saves a reserve amount of energy, you don't need to worry about accidentally draining it when using the reserve capacity like you would with your old battery. If you need to run electronics with your engine off for long periods of time, you're probably better off with a deep cycle lead acid battery.
How long can I run my stereo or lights on Ohm without running my engine?
Ohm's reserve capacity is 10 Amp hours. The amount of time Ohm can run your auxiliary electronics without running the engine depends on the amount of current your devices consume. The typical car stereo consumes about 2 amps of current at medium volume, which means that you could run it on Ohm with the engine off for hours without worry. Headlights draw about 15A and the battery will allow these to run for about 30 minutes before Ohm disconnects the battery to retain energy for cranking.
What if I my car needs a battery with the terminals reversed?
We'll send you an email after you become a backer and get some more information, including whether or not you need reversed terminals and ship you a version that will work for you.
What are the advantages of supercapacitors?
Supercapacitors are excellent at delivering energy very quickly. This is because, unlike batteries, they do not rely on a chemical reaction but instead store energy in an electrostatic field. This lets supercapacitors weigh less and perform better in colder temperatures than most batteries.
Can Ohm be jumped started if it needs to be?
Yes, you can jump start Ohm like you would a normal battery.
Can Ohm jump start other cars?
Yes. When you re jumping another car from yours, you should always have your engine running so that the alternator can assist in providing current, but in a pinch, Ohm should be able to jump a car by itself.
Can I use Ohm in my boat?
We aren't planning to rigorously test or certify Ohm for marine environments yet, so if you try it, it's at your own risk. However, there's no reason why it wouldn't work in principal assuming your engine has an alternator to recharge the battery. Note that Ohm has a 10 amp hour capacity, so if your boat requires a lot of reserve capacity (for running sonar or lights or a sound system all day on the water), you may be better off with a deep cycle marine battery, or perhaps an Ohm in parallel with a deep cycle battery, to prevent the need for jump starting on the water.
Can I use Ohm with my trolling motor?
Ohm has a reserve capacity of 10 amp hours, which means it would probably not work well with a trolling motor. Trolling motors don't have an alternator, and would quickly deplete the energy within Ohm.
Can I use Ohm in my airplane?
We aren't planning to rigorously test or certify Ohm for use in any aircraft, so we do not recommend it. If you do try it, it's at your own risk.
I have a large audio system, will Ohm work with it?
We haven't tested Ohm with every possible combination of amplifier and speaker, but we believe Ohm should work well with aftermarket audio systems. The supercapacitors within Ohm can provide large current spikes needed to drive large amplifier and speaker loads. The reserve capacity is 10 amp hours, so we recommend running your engine while using your sound system.
Will you offer a smaller version of Ohm?
Ohm is available in two sizes, a larger group 35 compatible version and a smaller custom version. The guts of Ohm don't take up much space, so shifting to a smaller size shouldn't be too difficult, but right now we're focusing on getting the larger version for cars right before offering more sizes.
Will you offer a version of Ohm for motorcycles?
Right now, we do not offer a version for motorcycles. See the previous question for details.
Who is Ohm for?
Ohm is well suited for performance driving enthusiasts (autocross, track days, wheel to wheel, etc), people who live in cold climates, as well as people who are simply tired of getting stuck with a run down battery.
How long can Ohm sit on a shelf?
Ohm has a shelf life of approximately 12 months.
How long can Ohm sit in my car without use?
Ohm can sit in most cars for about 3 months before needing to be recharged. It will remain in its normal state for approximately one month (depending on the idle current drawn by your particular car). At that point, it will go into hibernation to save enough reserve energy to still be able to crank the engine, reducing current draw to be only the battery's self discharge. It will remain in this state until you turn the key to wake Ohm up. After waiting about 30 seconds for the supercapacitors to recharge, you'll be able to turn the key and start your car.
What's the deal with the CCA rating?
It turns out that Cold Cranking Amps (CCA) aren't a very good measure of whether or not a battery will start a car. It's an old metric left over from when cars first started using lead acid batteries. Instead we use peak cold cranking amps, which is the amount of current that can be delivered by the both the supercapacitors and batteries over a period of a few seconds.
Does Ohm work with diesel cars?
We're still testing Ohm with diesel cars, so we don't feel comfortable definitively saying it will work with them yet. Once we finish testing, we'll be able to say for sure.
Is Ohm safe?
Yes. The supercapacitors used in Ohm are mostly carbon and a few milliliters of electrolyte. The batteries are LiFePO4, which are very stable and are used in some electric vehicles. We wouldn't ship anything we're not comfortable with our parents, brothers, and sisters driving with.
What is your refund and cancellation policy?
You can cancel your order and get a full refund anytime before shipping. Ohm will likely change before its release as we improve performance and consider input from our first users. If Ohm isn't all you thought it would be when you get it, you have 30 days to return it. If you choose to do so, you'll be responsible for shipping fees.
What is your warranty policy?
Ohm's warranty will change as more testing is completed to determine the average lifetime. All customers will be automatically grandfathered in to any longer warranties issued after testing is complete. Initially, Ohm is warranted to be free from defects in materials or workmanship for one year from the date it is shipped. Within this period, Ohm will, at its sole option, repair or replace any components that fail in normal use. Such repairs or replacement will be made at no charge to the customer for parts or labor, provided that the customer shall be responsible for any transportation cost. This warranty does not apply to: (i) cosmetic damage, such as scratches, nicks and dents; (ii) damage caused by accident, abuse, misuse, water, flood, fire, or other acts of nature or external causes; (iii) damage caused by service performed by anyone who is not an authorized service provider of Ohm; (iv) damage to a product that has been modified or altered without the written permission of Ohm; or (vi) damage to a product that has been connected to vehicles or devices not supported by Ohm. In addition, Ohm reserves the right to refuse warranty claims against products or services that are obtained and/or used in contravention of the laws of any country.
When will I get my Ohm?
Ohm is currently planned to ship in early to mid 2016.
I don't see my question!
We'd be happy to answer it! Just shoot an email to hello@getohm.com.