A nano porous vanadium oxide (V2O5) was prepared by sol–gel method. The preparation involved elutriation of aqueous sodium meta vanadate over a cation exchange resin. The product was characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, surface area analysis and thermogravimetric analysis. Electrochemical characterization was done using cyclic voltammetry in a three electrode system consisting of a saturated calomel electrode as reference electrode, platinum mesh as a counter electrode, and V2O5 mounted on Ti mesh as the working electrode. Two molars of aqueous KCl, NaCl and LiCl were used as electrolytes. A maximum capacitance of 214Fg−1 was obtained at a scan rate of 5mVs−1 in 2M KCl. The effect of different electrolytes and the effect of concentration of KCl on the specific capacitance of V2O5 were studied. Specific capacitance faded rapidly over 100 cycles in 2M KCl at a 5mVs−1 scan rate.