Filed under: EV/Plug-in, ZENN
Is production of EEStor ultracapacitors being pushed back into 2008?
After having earlier proclaimed that they would have their remarkable new ultra-capacitors in production this year, it now looks like EESTor is delaying production for as much as six months. CNET actually managed to talk to EEStor CEO Richard Weir on the phone and he said that production would start sometime before the middle of 2008. EEStor was supposed to deliver 15 kWh energy storage systems for installation into a new EV made by ZENN.
ZENN invested several million dollars into EEStor. To date no one outside of ZENN or EEStor has actually seen or tested the new capacitors. If they work and are affordable (two VERY big IFS) it could be a breakthrough for electric vehicles. Caps can absorb energy much more quickly than batteries but they traditionally have had limited capacity and big ones were very expensive.
Related:
[Source: CNET, thanks to Domenick for the tip]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kardax 8:45AM (9/05/2007)
I don't think anyone -inside- ZENN or EEStor has seen them, either :)
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andrew_cole 9:48AM (9/05/2007)
For what this tech can mean for EV's, I continue to hope, but I'm begining to feel like a kid who's waiting for Christmas. A Christmas that may never come.
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James K. 11:31PM (9/05/2007)
Hopefully this comes out sooner than later but as long as EEStor holds up to its promises I'm happy.
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Kelly OBrien 1:01PM (9/06/2007)
Ooooh, I hear EEstor and Zap! will announce a partnership and a new, 800 mile range crossover SUV, soon!
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K Thurber 2:20PM (9/06/2007)
James K wrote: "Hopefully this comes out sooner than later but as long as EEStor holds up to its promises I'm happy."
If they were holding up to their promises we'd have products by now. They're not.
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Cesare Consaga 1:03PM (9/11/2007)
I can't help but think this is just a 'legal' capitol-raising scam. It's too bad the parties involved can't just display a little integrity and honesty on the matter.
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Chris M 4:40PM (10/03/2007)
EEstor was bragging that they could do it before they had actually done it, and are now realizing that it might not work as planned. It is now panic mode time as they struggle to do what may turn out to be impossible.
I don't know whether this was a deliberate fraud, or simply the result of braggadocio gone overboard, but either way it means trouble.
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Jim 1:03PM (2/29/2008)
Well, here it is, 6 months later, and not a peep out of Eestor about progress on their capacitance battery development.
I predict that their battery will not be released before mid-year 2009, if ever, but I am pulling for their success. What a boon it would be to the EV and HEV industry.
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Jay Draiman 12:00AM (6/12/2008)
Energy conservation - The transition
For the past several years, all the debates and analyses related to the use of primary energies are influenced by a set of incontrovertible facts. They all lead to the same conclusion: "it is essential to rationalize the use of energy on a world-wide scale, in order to ensure the sustainable future of the species that inhabit the planet and of the corresponding biodiversity that supports them".
A transition to a sustainable energy system is necessary, also from “the economic point of view”, that guarantees the maintenance of our generation's and future generations' welfare, from a perspective of respecting the environment.
This transition requires significant effort in research, development and technological innovation, as well as greater social awareness of the energy problem. In the short and medium term, the objectives for implementing a sustainable energy system would include the application of measures such as:
• Encouraging energy saving and efficiency.
• Promoting renewable energy sources.
• The development of the necessary energy infrastructures to face the increase in consumption during this period of transition (gas-based infrastructures).
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Jubal 3:15PM (7/02/2008)
Barium Titanite dielectric makes for a wonderful capacitor. The difficulties are in terms of grain size and layer thickness. When one considers that such "problems" are not really problems from a technical standpoint, the only alternative is that EEStor has sold out. When one considers the kind of leverage that the established technologies exert on emerging companies, the lack of overt activity at EEStor, and the fact that Tesla has run from Albuquerque to Kalifornia, it seems only likely that EEStor has vanished, their technology safely hidden away from the consumer.
Environmental regs, labor costs, personnel costs in Kalifornia are much, much more restrictive and higher than New Mexico. It would not be cost-effective for the Tesla to go to Kalifornia, unless there was a monster big payola for the management (Rule #1 of Six Sigma MBA's: Screw the employees).
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Mark 12:30AM (9/21/2008)
Another discovery in the energy storage technology sector...
http://www.dailytech.com/Carbon+Breakthrough+Promises+Better+Solar+Wind+Storage/article12984.htm
If Eestor's dielectric could be combined with the thin layer charge plates discussed in the above article then perhaps the permmitivity target may not have to be so high.
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Steven Sullivan 10:59PM (11/01/2008)
If you have 4 million dollars EEstor will promise to deliver product as I was told by Dr Weir. It is beginning to look very suspicious as they can not deliver a sample for environmental testing. Epod inc can deliver samples and it will not cost you 4 million dollars.
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