The huge surface area of carbon nanotubes is also being exploited when they are used as the electrodes in capacitors to provide more current and better electrical and mechanical stability than other materials. Their large surface area means energy is stored all along them, not just at the ends as in conventional capacitors. Research labs at Stanford and MIT have been working to create carbon nanotube based ultracapacitors that would rival batteries in cars. Bringing them to market is FastCAP Systems of Boston, using carbon nanotube to create ultracapacitors that it claims offer long life spans, durability, and recharge times and power levels beyond the traditional batteries and other capacitors. They also contain no lithium and carry no risk of thermal explosions.