EEStor battery-ultracapacitor

EEStor

Valued at some $66 million after Zenn Motor invested $2.5 million for a 3.8% stake in 2007, EEStor aims to solve the renewable energy problem with its "battery-ultracapacitor" hybrid technology. While traditional batteries wear out and have to be thrown away, "ultracaps" can be used and recharged for decades with almost no degradation; the downside is that they tend to hold about 25 times less energy per pound than lithium ion batteries, meaning that they have to be recharged fairly often. EEStor says it solved that problem using a ceramic ultracapacitor with a barium-titanate insulator that can absorb higher amounts of energy per given unit of mass. While critics claim the ultracaps are too costly to manufacture, EEStor plans to hit the market later this year.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/02/27/battery-motorola-mit-ent-tech-cx_bn_0228battery_slide_3.html?thisSpeed=3000000

EEStor unveils ultracapacitor-based battery system, Li-ion shudders in fear

If relying on sunlight and downhill routes in Venturi's uber-green Eclectic doesn't exactly sound feasible for your everyday (and night) errands, and your ultraportable's five hours of battery life just isn't where you think it should be, EEStor is hoping to remedy those issues -- along with basically every other battery-related quandary -- in one fell swoop. In another case of "this just can't be for realz," an elusive Texas company is coming clean about what's been happening in its labs of late, and the proclamations are nothing short of sensational. The firm boldly states that its one of a kind system, a "battery-ultracapacitor hybrid based on barium-titanate powders, will dramatically outperform the best lithium-ion batteries on the market in terms of energy density, price, charge time, and safety." Moreover, this miracle-working solution is said to produce "ten times" the power of lead-acid batteries at half the cost, sans the need for "toxic materials or chemicals." Additionally, EEStor is hoping to have its Electrical Energy Storage Unit (EESU) powering the wheels of Toronto-based ZENN Motor vehicles, and if "estimates" are to be believed, it will only take about $9 worth of electricity for an EESU-propelled car to travel 500 miles, compared to nearly $60 in gasoline. Of course, such a "breakthrough" product is bound to have its fair share of naysayers, and Jim Miller, vice president of advanced transportation technologies at Maxwell Technologies, is indeed skeptical that EEStor's technology will be able to withstand the unique pressures that a vehicle would place on the "brittle" structure. But we've got to give credit to the company's vow to veer clear of hype, as it notes that this is just the first time it has come forward to intro the technology, and maintains that it will "meet all of its claims" -- guess we'll see about that, eh?

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/23/eestor-unveils-ultracapacitor-based-battery-system-li-ion-shudd/

Lockheed signs deal with EEStor

Lockheed Martin has signed a deal with EEStor to try to integrate the ultracapacitor start-up's electrical energy storage units into the defense contractor's products.

Financial terms of the agreement, announced Wednesday, were not disclosed.

EEStor is developing a ceramic battery chemistry that could provide 10 times the energy density of lead acid batteries at about a tenth of the weight and volume, according to Lockheed. A Lockheed spokesman said the company is interested in energy storage systems a soldier can carry, but also car batteries and energy systems for remote buildings.

Lockheed will spend most of the year evaluating samples it gets from EEStor and, if all goes well, it can start incorporating them into products. EEStor will begin to conduct qualification testing and mass production of the units in late 2008. As part of the contract, Lockheed will have the exclusive right to use EEStor products in the homeland security market.

The company also announced that former Dell Chairman Mort Topfer has joined its board. Last year, it was reported that Topfer left the board. The Toronto Star broke that story. (I wrote a story repeating what the Star said, citing the newspaper.) Reporter Tyler Hamilton says that Topfer did leave, but is now rejoining.

This marks another unexpected turn in the EEStor saga. The company has devised an energy storage device that it says can change the battery industry. Zenn Motors of Canada is an investor and wants to incorporate the batteries into its cars. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is said to be an investor.

EEStor, however, doesn't say a lot. In fact, the company rarely gives statements or issues releases, though it's one of the favorite topics of debate in the clean-tech world. For instance, EEStor didn't say it will begin qualification and testing on the battery units that are part of this deal. Lockheed did, in its own release (which, incidentally, doesn't include quotes from EEStor). EEStor didn't put a release out on the deal, though it put one out on Topfer.

Some people who have visited the company's facilities or reviewed its patents have come away believers. Others have become skeptics. EEStor had hoped to come out with products in 2007 but was forced to delay.

The Lockheed deal gives the company a shot of credibility. Critics, though, will likely remain skeptical until they see the devices. Defense contractors, after all, sign lots of deals like this.