The latest on EEStor and Feel Good Cars
Sources say EEStor has delayed the date for the testing of its barium titanate powder – a key ingredient in its ultracapacitor-based energy storage system. The tests, which will make sure the permeativity and purification of the powder is up to snuff and ready for mass production, are now scheduled for September. A third-party lab in Austin that has links with the University of Texas will likely do the testing.
In parallel with the lead-up to testing, EEStor is working on the power electronics and setting up a automated production facility. “They plan to go directly from test to production,” said a source. “Their noses are just down right now to get where they want to be.”
Feel Good Cars, which is an investor in EEStor and has a license to sell its energy storage system in the compact car market, is apparently still expecting to receive its first shipments of units in the first quarter of 2007.
The delay is disappointing but not at all unexpected, given the magnitude of EEStor’s claims. And the missing link, of course, is partnership and distribution agreements that would bring this technology to market. Perhaps this is going on behind the scenes, but I have difficulty believing the company can keep a secret for this long. I guess time will tell…
One more thing: If this tech truly passes its first major test, you can expect to see followup rounds of financing. Financing so far has been relatively low, and while Kleiners is involved in early rounds, further rounds will inspire some confidence.
Tyler Hamilton is senior energy reporter and columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the cleantech market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper. Tyler can be reached at tyler@cleanbreak.ca
August 17th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
I’m eagerly awaiting for this company to produce what they are claiming. It sounds too good to be true from what I’ve read. A real breakthough in energy storage.
August 18th, 2006 at 2:07 pm
Hi Tyler. Maybe a column on “What can you do with a 56 kW-hr battery” is in order, seeing how the implications of the technology are so far reaching.
August 20th, 2006 at 6:06 pm
I wonder what an increasing market for plug-in automobiles would mean to the Ontario grid. What would this do to our daily consumption levels, when we would also have these hungry batteries to feed? Yes these bat’s would also provide storage and therefore enable renewable energy to begin feeding base-load, but in transition? Disruptive seems apt as a descriptor of tech this hot. I guess they would mainly be charging at night, maybe from the home / community’s renewable energy system that has been charging it’s own storage batteries all day from wind and solar while the occupants have been away. Seems like a lot of infrastructure toward keeping up with our hunger for individualized transportation though. Been looking at some of these cars, -someone ought to name one the bat-mobile! (battery pow!ered)
August 20th, 2006 at 10:07 pm
I wouldn’t guess that it would require upgrading the grid right away. Adoption will be gradual, and charging done mostly at night. All of those air conditioners going during the heat of the day would probably sink power much more than the plug-ins.
If the technology does pan out, there is nothing stopping its eventual use for reducing the intermittency of renewable energy, which is a very exciting prospect.
Stephen
August 21st, 2006 at 10:20 am
I wonder why they are being so secretive about the results. If this technology really works, it would be revolutionary on the level of the PC, Model T, and sliced bread. The $3 million from Kleiner Perkins is pretty small potatoes for something this big. If they are testing production processes, they must have a working model, right? As with movies, no reviews on release night usually mean bad reviews. Let’s hope not.
August 22nd, 2006 at 1:07 pm
If you read the patent documents the whole thing looks very credible but as in any inventions sometimes there are difficulties
to overcome. The concept may work but converting the power from a 240 VAC to 3.5Kv dc and back to a stable DC voltage to power a car is not that simple. Maybe other issues cropped up…
August 23rd, 2006 at 12:35 pm
This “third party evaluation” is a lot of hot air. Do they or don’t they have working batteries. If they do, then they would be testing them themselves in car. I think the whole think is a scam.
August 23rd, 2006 at 7:33 pm
Tyler,
Does your “source” have inside information with EEStor or are they merely connected with the testing lab? It would be nice to know if small scale testing worked, since they are supposedly trying to perfect the manufacturing technology now, which is somewhat far along in the process.
As for the question of what this could be used for, basically any energy application could potentially use this. Electric cars, with a “battery” meeting the claims of the EEStor, would cause fuel cell research to shut down. In fact, the internal combustion car should become a relic overnight.. Batteries that never lose maximum charge (though smaller devices might have difficult with the voltage conversion as the charge empties). The ability to put solar panels on your house and be self sufficient with energy. Wind and solar can become mainstream technologies. An energy revolution. Of course, that would require it to be true, and not yet another hoax/scam/unrealized dream. I tend toward the pessimistic view, but maybe. . .
August 23rd, 2006 at 7:52 pm
My source is not within the company but someone close to the company and close to the testing. I can’t be more precise, sorry. And unfortunately all the information I’ve provided is all that I’ve been told.
August 25th, 2006 at 12:50 pm
Taylor
To the skeptics, the American government and all of their military manufacturing giants must allready be involved considering Collin Powells involvement through Kleiner Perkins. So obviously these companies have no reason to disclose what the EEStor product can do. As well, if the EEStor product is that revolutionary, they also don’t need to sell it.
August 27th, 2006 at 11:09 am
Exactly. Something of this potential is an issue of national security, just like the other high power resources.
September 1st, 2006 at 5:32 am
Wouln’t it just be great if the army seizes this vital technology, and the rest of us are stuck with smoking gas-powered cars
On another note, just by taking a quick glance at how my own company meets deadlines, I’m not too concerned with new-development taking a little more time than originally estimated.
September 21st, 2006 at 4:26 pm
While I’m not an engineer of any kind, I have worked with electronics all my life and one thing about capacitors is that they are sensitive to heat and even cold. Also they don’t like to be impacted in any manner.
Capacitors explode, inside your electronic device, you would most likely not even know about it, except that the device would cease to function.
A capacitor the size of this invention, with the claimed storage capacity….well, let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be within fifty yards of it if it did explode.
It’s use in a static enviorment, say with wind towers or Solar, where it could be housed in a controled enviorment and not subject to shock, it would be a safe application.
But in a car, subject to temp. changes, shock (and heaven forbid a collision, I’m not so sure that I would want to own one.
But like I said, I’m no engineer. I could be wrong.
Papa Ray
West Texas
USA
September 21st, 2006 at 6:32 pm
Yes, electrolytic capacitors explode, if you apply the wrong polarity, and it’s pretty exciting when it happens
But other types of capacitors , say tantalum, don’t explode. I don’t know enough about the technology EEStor is using to say.
If this technology delievers, it will be absolutely revolutionary. But that’s a really big “If”. Time will tell.
October 8th, 2006 at 4:19 am
I have one douubt here.
They say the battery was tested for a million cycles. Lets say it is a quick charge discharge cycle taking 1 minute. Doing it for 24/7 will take approx 2 years. If it a 100% rating test, then the test currents run into 100s of amperes, – you need a huge power ON/OFF contact that will wear out in no time anyway and need repalcement every few hours.
when did EEStor say they developed and tested this product ?
What type of test did they conduct ?
Something dont seem right here.
November 10th, 2006 at 6:09 pm
Keep putting of verication by 3rd party. Did they mean September 2010?
Get it going–please -the world awaits.
How can I help I could collect old cigarette buts for the smoke and I know a good mirror supplier.
November 16th, 2006 at 12:32 pm
Power transistors are used as switches. No contacts are needed.
November 16th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
The issues would seem to be with the capacitor materials, not the controller or voltage conversion electronics. High frequency switching power supplies can easily handle the voltage conversion efficiently and compactly. (Well it’s not that easy, but it’s doable today.)
November 16th, 2006 at 12:37 pm
If they end up with batteries it’s definitely a scam, since they’re working on capacitors.
November 17th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
The whole excersise was to get some oil companies scared. By now they may have been bought out, and even if there was any substance to the product, it will not matter any more.
April 6th, 2007 at 8:19 am
I don’t understand why this has not filtered through to a higher media frenzy. This is such a big break through, in energy storage,
that could catapolt the US to a hole new fronter. I see that in the near future the cost of energy is what could drive the next revolution in growth in the US and abroad. These batteries will make wind generators and solor power possible for a larger number of house holds.I could see the government getting behind this and driving it to a whole new level. Power station could cut the cost of delivering energy. What I understand is that power station produce an over supply of electricity and the part that is not used is wasted. This wasted energy could be captured in very large batteries and used. I can’t wait to see this technology start making a difference. I wish I could be on the for front.
April 6th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Well, it hasn’t been independently demonstrated to work. Once it is, though, I would hope that this changes. Should be a matter of months only, since EEStor has deliverables this year to feel good cars.
Stephen
October 5th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
why would eestor lie,rich wier holds a dozen paterns from ibm days in disk storage etc.i think he went with mr.clifford at zen motors was to keep it away from the big auto companys who would because of their deals with the oil companys no doubt delay this technology for many years. i understand they claim to have a silver bullet for all the problems connected to holding a chatrge that delivers a punch like they claim but kliener perkins must have seen some kind of working model before forking over a couple mill.0to60 in 5seconds 500 miles on 15 min. charge seems unlikely but with the caliber of people on board the must have somthing.