The carbon-graphite foam, lead acid batteries created by Firefly Energy are a bit closer to production now that the company today announced a MoU with lead acid battery maker NorthStar Battery Company. This agreement means Firefly's 3D batteries should be in production by the fourth quarter of this year.

We spoke with Firefly Energy co-founder Mil Ovan a while back about these 3D batteries, which the U.S. military is also interested in. You can read our interview with Ovan here, but the short, short version is that 3D batteries use a non-corrosive carbon graphite foam grid instead of a fairly non-conductive lead metal grid in lead acid batteries. This change means less lead is used to make the batteries and the batteries "deliver four times greater power density at less than one quarter of the weight, double the life expectancy, recharge seven times faster and will cost one-tenth that of nickel metal hydride or lithium-ion battery options," according to Dan Green, our friend who does Firefly PR.

Related:

• Firefly Energy gets $5 million from U.S. Army for advanced battery tech
• AutoblogGreen Q&A with Firefly Energy co-founder Mil Ovan on new lead-acid battery tech: 3D2

[Source: Firefly / Dan Green]

As we mentioned the other day, Firefly Energy is setting out to change the way we think of lead-acid batteries. Mil Ovan, Firefly Energy co-founder, spoke with AutoblogGreen about this new battery technology and what it might mean for PHEVs and EVs.

As for why a company that is initially building batteries for earthmoving and lawn care products, Ovan said name Firefly came about because fireflies produce "perfect light" (that is, without generating any heat). This graphite foam core material the company is using in their new battery technology has the heat dissipation characteristics of diamonds, which are far better than aluminum and copper, Ovan said. A cooler battery lasts longer, he said, and when you think of a firefly, you think of great power to weight ratio. If you're pushing less lead down the road, you're consuming less energy, no?

Read the entire Q&A interview after the jump.

Firefly Energy Inc., of Peoria, Ill has patented a new type of lead acid battery they claim would be an excellent choice for hybrid and electric vehicle use. The battery is of a lead acid design, but differs from traditional lead acid batteries by using a carbon-graphite foam grid instead of a conventional lead grid. They claim that this will reduce weight significantly, ease manufacturing concerns, allow the batteries to charge quicker and increase the available form factors of conventional lead acid batteries.

Today, most home based electric vehicles use conventional lead acid batteries, as pointed out by my fellow blogger here. But, as mentioned in that post, one problem is the batteries weight. Vehicle manufacturers of hybrid and electric vehicles get around this problem by using nickel metal hydride batteries or lithium ion. There are inherent issues with both of these technologies as well, which have been covered in past posts, and I am sure, future posts as well.

Firefly Energy is not talking prices just yet, however they claim on their site that the technology promises to be a lower cost solution to some of the problems we have been speaking about than what is currently available. Firefly also claims that the U.S. Army is a client of theirs, which bodes well for the technology. Many have been quoted as saying that battery technology is what is holding back current electric vehicle production, so this news could certainly be a step in the right direction.

[editor's update: click here for an in-depth AutoblogGreen Q&A with Firefly co-founder Mil Ovan]

[Source: Detroit Free Press]