Author: Chris Hunter

Early last year, a company named EEstor started mass-producing a battery called the EEstor ESU. At the time, they called it a "ceramic energy storage unit". The problem lies in this claim. The ESU can store up to 52-Kilowatt hours of energy while only requiring a 5 minutes charge. This claim brought out many critics and the media severely doubted the performance stats of this battery. However, it is not a battery at all, and that is what allows the ESU to do its job.

A normal lead acid battery uses an electrochemical reaction to maintain its energy potential. Chemical reactions within the battery produce electrons, which powers devices. When a battery is recharged, the electrochemical reaction occurs, but it is reversed.

The reason critics were riled is because the ESU uses a proprietary capacitor manufactured from a barium titanate powder. Normally, capacitors "leak" energy at an unacceptable level, thus capacitors are used primarily for short-term energy storage. EEstor claims that their Ultra capacitor looses .01% of its total energy storage per month. That number is astounding.

Because the chemical process does not need to be reversed, this "battery" can be charged minutes later. The electrochemical process in batteries normally regulates the release and intake of electrons, and that causes the long recharge time. In addition, ditching the lead acid reduces the weight of the battery by 90%.

Another advantage to this energy storage method is that the battery can be charged and discharged indefinitely. Lead acid batteries die after 500-800 cycles or recharges. This inconvenience costs substantial revenue to maintain several million battery powered devices. To claim to have an answer to a billion dollar problem is a gutsy move. It is painfully clear why the critics were skeptical, this sounds too good to be true.

Andrew Burke from University of California Davis is an expert on energy systems for transportation. His skepticism was justified at the time.

"I get a little skeptical when somebody thinks they've got a silver bullet for every application, because that's just not consistent with reality," He added though, "If [the] technology turns out to be better than I think, that doesn't make me sad: it makes me happy."

If a car can withstand the tests of time, that car would still be able to drive hundreds of kilometers with the same 5 minute charge it was parked with. Theoretically, this energy storage unit could hold a charge for decades. The implications of this are tremendous for all sectors of business and technology. It increases the feasibility of long-term space travel with infinitely rechargeable energy storage. The mobile market alone would receive a substantial boost in performance possibility and longevity. The performance of discontinuous renewable resources would increase as well. The list goes on.

EEstor shrugged off the bad publicity from the media and established their own manufacturing plant to produce and license their technology. The first to engage with the company was ZENN motor company (Feel Good Cars - Canada). Unfortunately, the TSE market reacted negatively to their actions and their stock price took a hit. They do not have any details on the release of this new wonder car. The 52-Kilowatt energy source should be able to push the Zenn car about 800 kilometers/500 miles and recharge in minutes. If the claims ring true, this will be a huge success for them. Zenn has exclusive worldwide rights*. They also invested 2.5 million dollars into EEstor a year ago.

*"Exclusive worldwide right is for all personal transportation uses under 15 KW drive systems (equivalent to 100 peak horse power) and for vehicles with a curb weight of under 1200 kilograms not including batteries"* 

The goods news is that Lockheed Martin released a press release detailing their exclusive international rights agreement. This gives EEstor something to stand on until the prototypes are released. As a direct result, ZENN's stock rose 28% on the TSE. 

Lockheed Martin intends on integrating this technology into all forms of military and homeland security applications. The military implications are obvious and will provide a large research funding boost for EEstor.

Due to credibility this technology has garnered, the possibilities start to flow through our minds. This ESU is something we will have to keep an eye on in the future. The pricing and availibility are sketchy, but they claim that through volume production, the pricing will be competitive with lead acid. 

• Read the press release for all of the marketing oriented material from Lockheed Martin.
• Here is a good article on ITWire and an older article from Technology Review JAN07 covering the subject as well.

What uses can you think of? let us know.

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.