Do LICs still deliver power in the cold?

Prismatic LIC series are specified down to −40 °C and deliver cranking-class current there, where Li-ion charging is typically restricted below 0 °C and usable capacity collapses toward −20 °C. Pouch-format LICs sit in a narrower −25…+55 °C band.

Deep comparison

Why LIC owns the millisecond tier

Q: Can I trade voltage window for cycle life?

Yes. The same cell family is rated for about 50,000 cycles at a 4.0→2.5 V window but around 500,000 cycles at 3.5→2.5 V — dropping the top of the window by 0.5 V buys roughly ten times the cycles.

Backup power fails in one of two ways: too slow to catch the sag, or too short-lived to survive the duty cycle. The three candidate cells part company exactly there. An LIC hybrid supercapacitor answers a load step in 1–50 ms and keeps doing it for a 500,000-cycle class at a 3.5→2.5 V window. An EDLC matches the speed but carries roughly a tenth of the energy per kilogram. A Li-ion battery stores the most energy of all, yet budgets you 1,000–5,000 cycles and a cold-weather exit plan.

This page compares all three across 14 parameters, then opens the LIC cell itself — because knowing why it behaves differently is what makes the numbers believable.

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Fourteen parameters

The full comparison table

Numbers below are datasheet-class: real values from manufacturer specifications, not lab anecdotes. Where a range appears, it is the honest spread across cell series and formats. Cycle life is always conditional on voltage window and temperature — the footnote that decides everything.

Parameter	LIC hybrid supercapacitor	EDLC	Li-ion battery
Cell rated voltage	3.8 / 4.0 V	2.7–3.0 V	3.2–3.7 V
Cells per string, same bus voltage	Baseline	≈30% more cells at the same bus voltage	Comparable on paper; usable window shrinks with cycling
Gravimetric energy density	13.7–62 Wh/kg	3–8.5 Wh/kg	~130–265 Wh/kg
Power density	Up to ~22 kW/kg on large cells	22–28 kW/kg	0.5–3 kW/kg
Cycle life (defined window)	500k @3.5→2.5 V / 50k @4.0→2.5 V	500k–1M @25 °C	1,000–5,000
Operating temperature	−40…+70 °C by series (pouch −25…+55 °C)	−40…+85 °C	−20…+60 °C
Behavior at −40 °C	Delivers cranking-class current	Works, capacitance derated	Charging restricted below 0 °C; capacity collapses toward −20 °C
Response to a load step	1–50 ms	Milliseconds-class	Electrochemical delay before full takeover
Pulse current capability	450 A-class cells; >500 A module surge	Multi-kA pulse cells	C-rate limited, typically ≤3 C
Safety / failure mode	No thermal runaway	No thermal runaway (no lithium)	Thermal runaway risk; interlocks mandatory
Self-discharge	≥3.7 V held after 72 h rest, cell level	Higher — days-scale voltage droop	Low
Calendar life	15-year design-life class in backup service	10–20-year class, voltage/temperature dependent	5–15 years, managed around capacity fade
Shipping classification	UN 3499 · Class 9 above 0.3 Wh · IATA PI 971	UN 3499 · Class 9 above 0.3 Wh	UN 3480/3481 · Class 9 · state-of-charge rules
Cost position	Mid: above EDLC per farad, far below Li-ion per delivered cycle in high-cycling duty	Lowest per farad	Highest per delivered cycle when cycling daily

Read the two middle columns as one system choice: EDLC for raw pulse power where energy hardly matters, LIC where the ride-through window has real joules behind it and the string still has to live a decade.

Cutaway technical diagram of a hybrid supercapacitor cell showing activated-carbon and prelithiated carbon electrodes separated by an ion-permeable separator

Inside the cell

Half capacitor, half battery, none of the meltdown

An EDLC stores charge purely physically — ions adsorbing onto activated carbon, reversible almost forever. A Li-ion cell stores it chemically, with lithium intercalating into host crystal structures while a flammable organic electrolyte sits in the circuit. The LIC hybrid supercapacitor runs both mechanisms at once: the positive electrode is capacitor-grade carbon, while the negative is a prelithiated carbon that donates lithium ions without offering a lithium-metal or metal-oxide reaction site.

That split personality explains the column of numbers above. Lithium pre-loaded into the carbon lifts the cell to 3.8–4.0 V, so a 48 V bus needs about 30% fewer cells in series than 2.7 V EDLCs. Adsorption-dominated chemistry holds ≥3.7 V after a 72 h rest and keeps DC ESR down to 0.47 mΩ on large cells. And the two classic runaway chains — dendrite growth and cathode oxygen release — have no starting point, which is why the failure-mode row reads the way it does.

See the 48 V module built on this cell →

Straight answers

Four questions engineers actually ask

Yes — but not as free metal or a battery-grade cathode. Lithium is pre-loaded into the carbon negative electrode during manufacture (prelithiation), which is what lifts cell voltage to 3.8–4.0 V and keeps the chemistry stable. For transport the cell is still classified as a capacitor under UN 3499, not as a lithium battery.

Cells above 0.3 Wh travel as UN 3499, Class 9, under IATA document A186 and packing instruction PI 971, with cell-level energy managed on a basis of 10 Wh or less per cell. CapStack prepares the shipping documentation with every order so boxes clear freight forwarders without surprises.

Yes, and it is the cheapest lifetime you will ever buy. The same cell family is rated for roughly 50,000 cycles at a 4.0→2.5 V window but around 500,000 cycles at 3.5→2.5 V — dropping the top of the window by 0.5 V buys about ten times the cycles. We size the window against your actual ride-through energy, not the datasheet maximum.

Prismatic LIC series are specified down to −40 °C and deliver cranking-class current there — exactly where lead-acid gives up and where Li-ion cannot recharge, since lithium charging is typically restricted below 0 °C and usable capacity collapses toward −20 °C. Pouch-format LICs sit in a narrower −25…+55 °C band, so format choice matters as much as chemistry.

Engineering bench with LIC supercapacitor cells and measurement leads

Decision time

The table favors LIC. The module makes it real.

Tell us the ride-through window and bus voltage — you get back a cell count, a ±5% sorted capacitance figure and a lead time, inside 48 hours.

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