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<< A Top 100 Energy Technology >>

New ceramic battery may replace gas engines by 2008.

Texas company is working on an "energy storage" device made from ceramics. It's not technically a battery because it doesn't use chemicals. It can allegedly charge within 5 minutes with enough energy to move a car 500 miles on about $9 worth of electricity -- about 45 cents a gallon.

According to the patent, the device is made of a ceramic powder coated with aluminum oxide and glass.

Company is very secretive, and has taken down its website.

"A ceramic power source for electric cars that could blow away the combustion engine." (CNN (http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/15/technology/disruptors_eestor.biz2/index.htm); Sept. 20, 2006)
Table of contents
1 Official Website

1.1 Associate Sites

2 Latest Developments

2.1 January 9, 2008
2.2 November 2007

3 Patents
4 Profiles

4.1 Company: EEStor

5 Coverage

5.1 In the News
5.2 Related Coverage

6 Comments

6.1 What if it short circuited?
6.2 How do I charge an electric car in 5 or 10 minutes?
6.3 More

7 Contact

1 See also

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Official Website

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Associate Sites

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Latest Developments

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January 9, 2008

The company publicly announced that Topfer was joining the board.[1] (http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS169754+09-Jan-2008+PRN20080109)

Lockheed-Martin signed an agreement with EEStor for the exclusive rights to integrate and market EESU units in military and homeland security applications. [2] (http://pressmediawire.com/article.cfm?articleID=4628) This was widely seen as lending a great deal of credibility to the company and its technology; ZENN, who had been taking flak for their investment in EEStor, saw their stock increase by 28%[3] (http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/292614). Lockheed has not yet tested prototypes, but did tour EEStor's facilitity and analyzed their technology and methodology. Lockheed was "very impressed" with EEStor, noting "they are taking an approach that lends itself to a very quick ramp-up in production." The two companies look to complete joint product testing over the course of 2008.[4] (http://www.gm-volt.com/2008/01/10/lockheed-martin-signs-agreement-with-eestor/)"

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November 2007

"In November, Ian Topfer, a former vice chair of Dell, left the board of EEStor with no explanation given, leading to some concern as to the future of the company." [5] (http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS169754+09-Jan-2008+PRN20080109)

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Patents

  • US 7033406 (http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=7033406.PN.&OS=PN/7033406&RS=PN/7033406) - Electrical-energy-storage unit (EESU) utilizing ceramic and integrated-circuit technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries; Weir, et al. (April 25, 2006)
Abstract
An electrical-energy-storage unit (EESU) has as a basis material a high-permittivity composition-modified barium titanate ceramic powder. This powder is double coated with the first coating being aluminum oxide and the second coating calcium magnesium aluminosilicate glass. The components of the EESU are manufactured with the use of classical ceramic fabrication techniques which include screen printing alternating multilayers of nickel electrodes and high-permittivitiy composition-modified barium titanate powder, sintering to a closed-pore porous body, followed by hot-isostatic pressing to a void-free body. The components are configured into a multilayer array with the use of a solder-bump technique as the enabling technology so as to provide a parallel configuration of components that has the capability to store electrical energy in the range of 52 kWh. The total weight of an EESU with this range of electrical energy storage is about 336 pounds.
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Profiles

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Company: EEStor

"EEStor is backed by VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and the company's founders are engineers Richard Weir and Carl Nelson." [6] (http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/15/technology/disruptors_eestor.biz2/index.htm)

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Coverage

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In the News

  • EEStor Technology: The End of Batteries? (http://www.zenncars.com/media/documents/Naturalnews.pdf) - (1-page PDF) Texas-based EEStor is not exactly proposing a new battery, since no chemicals are used. Ultracapacitors have an advantage over electrochemical batteries (i.e. lithium-ion technology) in that they can absorb and release a charge virtually instantaneously with virtually no deterioration. Batteries trump ultracapacitors in their ability to store much larger amounts of energy at any given time. EEStor's take on the ultracapacitor - called the Electrical Energy Storage Unit, or EESU - combining the best of both untracapacitors and batteries. (Natural News; April 20, 2008)
  • Ultracapacitors: the future of electric cars or the 'cold fusion' of autovation? (http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0416/p13s01-sten.html) - ZENN says its electric car will cruise for 250 miles on a single five-minute charge. Skeptics cry shenanigans. Tom Weir, EEStor's vice president and general manager, responded to e-mailed questions. "EEStor's technology has the opportunity to touch every aspect of daily life from very big to very small devices," Mr. Weir writes. "We also see a whole new generation of products ... based around our technology." (The Christian Science Monitor; April 16, 2008)
  • Zenn Still Planning on EEStor (http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2008/02/fyi-zenn-still.html) - ZENN anticipates EEStor capacitor based energy storage systems will be commercialized and is making plans to incorporate it into its low speed electric car. ZENN is investigating longer-range highway capable electric vehicles that have a top speed of 65 to 75 mph and a single-charge range of 200 to 400 miles. (The Energy Blog; Feb. 21, 2008)
  • Lockheed Martin to use EEStor's ultracapacitors (http://media.cleantech.com/2272/lockheed-martin-to-use-eestor-batteries) - Lockheed Martin, the world's No. 1 defense contractor, plans to integrate and market EEStor's units for military and homeland security applications. The company said EEStor is developing a ceramic battery chemistry that could provide 10 times the energy density of lead acid batteries at one tenth the weight and volume. (Cleantech.com; Jan. 10, 2008)
  • Is EEStor delaying its power system for cars? (http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9770849-7.html?tag=recentPosts) - EEStor CEO Richard Weir said that commercial production of its energy storage system--a device that holds electricity and functions somewhat like a battery--will be sometime in the next 10 months or so. The unit is also referred to as an "ultracapacitor." "We intend to be in production on or before the middle of next year," he said. (CNET News; Sep. 4, 2007)
  • See You Later, Batteries! (http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3547157&page=1) - EEStor promised a battery replacement technology that would enable a motorist to plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles roundtrip without gasoline. The technology could provide efficient, lightning-fast storage for solar power. Skeptics fear the claims stretch the bounds of existing technology to the point of alchemy. (ABC News; Aug. 31, 2007)
  • ZENN Motor Company Invests in EEStor (http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/04/zenn_motor_comp.html) - ZENN Motor Company has an option for additional investment, following EEStor's successful completion of permittivity (electrical storage capacity) testing of its high-power-density ceramic ultracapacitor (EESU). The EESU could potentially allow ZENN vehicles to go as far and as fast as a traditional car at a fraction of the cost. (Green Car Congress; Apr. 30, 2007)
  • "Game-Changing" Energy Storage (http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/18086/) - According to patent documents, EEStore's ultracapacitor power system will "replace the electrochemical battery" in almost every application, from hybrid-electric and pure-electric vehicles to laptop computers to utility-scale electricity storage. (MIT Technology Review; Jan. 22, 2007)
  • EEStor Announces Production Milestones (http://pesn.com/2007/01/17/9500448_EEStor_milestones/) - The first EEStor production line has been proven to meet quality control requirements and its key production chemicals have been certified. EEStor will begin shipping 15 kilowatt-hour Electrical Energy Storage Units (EESU) to ZENN Motor Company in 2007 for use in their electric vehicles. (PESN; January 17, 2007)
  • When EVs Roam Capitol Hill (http://www.evworld.com/view.cfm?section=article&storyid=1145) - “[ZENN president Ian Clifford] is confident that EEStor will pull the wraps of their mysterious ‘battery’ very soon; his exact word was ‘imminent’ …‿ (Bill Moore, EV World, November 29, 2006)
  • Eestor Update (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/09/eestor_update.php) - There is no news, just hype from an article where someone probably said too much for his own good. (September 26, 2006)
  • Gentlemen, stop your engines (http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/15/technology/disruptors_eestor.biz2/index.htm) - EEStor's new automotive power source could eliminate the need for the combustion engine - and for oil. "The Technology is not just for the small passenger vehicles, but could easily replace the 300-horsepower brutes in today's SUVs." (CNN Business 2.0; Sept. 20, 2006)
  • EEStor Ultracapacitor Shuns Publicity (http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2006/01/eestor_ultracap.html) - The company is very wary of publicity and the following, which Tyler meticulously chased down, is about all that is known about their technology. (The Energy Blog; January 27, 2006)
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Related Coverage

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Comments

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What if it short circuited?

On September 26, 2006, TreeHugger (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/09/eestor_update.php) writes:

"It's a REALLY BIG dielectric capactor! Running 31F at 3500V in 336 pounds gives them 350Wh/kg. I really hate to think what would happen if a single one of all those parallel dielectrics failed! 52kWh through a short circuit could melt the thing to slag." We certainly wonder what happens when we try to get 52 Kwh out of our house into the car in less than five minutes as Ian claims.

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How do I charge an electric car in 5 or 10 minutes?

Ian Clifford was presumably claiming a charge time of 5 minutes for the 15KWh unit which will initially be used to power the ZENN electric car, not a 52KWh unit as in the Eestor patent.

The easy way to do this is to have TWO Eestor units - one in the house and one in the car. You charge the house unit at night in a few hours using cheap-rate electricity (which a number of countries and regions have, but not all) at 110v or 240v and a current that is comfortable for the house supply. Then you can charge the car from the house unit in 5 minutes using a well insulated cable at 3500v and 70 amps (approx, depending on converter losses at both ends). For a 52Kwh unit 10 mins would probably be more comfortable.

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More

See Discussion page

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Contact

EEStor, Inc.
Austin TX

Richard Weir
President and Chief Executive Officer
phone: (512) 259-5144
email: dick_weir@eestor.us (mailto:dick_weir@eestor.us?subject=EEStor_featured_at_PESWiki.com)


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