Electric car breakthrough may be near

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/nov/03/electric_car_breakthrough_may_be_near21048/

Electric car breakthrough may be near

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Electric cars have been around a long time, but until now, no inventor has been able to overcome the deficiencies of the lead-acid storage battery, mainly the inability to provide long-range driving.

But there are encouraging signs. When it is said electric vehicles have been around for some time, consider that Robert Anderson of Scotland invented the first crude electric carriage in the 1830s. In 1842, Robert Davidson, another Scotsman, and American Thomas Davenport were the first to use nonrechargeable electric cells.

In 1865, Gaston Plante, a Frenchman, invented an efficient storage battery. There continued to be improvements in electric-powered vehicles. The years 1899 and 1900 were high points for electric cars in the United States. Many advantages prevailed over gasoline and steam power plants, including the fact there was no vibration, smell or noise, no gear changes were necessary, and it was much easier to start the engine.

However, the lead batteries required frequent recharging, which limited the range of the electrics, compared with gasoline types. For more than 100 years, attempts have been made to develop electric cars with a more suitable electric and storage source. Recently, hopes have surrounded the lithium battery, which seems to have high potential.

Now a Texas-based company by the name of EEStor promises "technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries," which means motorists could plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles without gasoline.

This remarkable story was first uncovered by the Associated Press, but it has received virtually no further publicity. As a contrast, some plug-in hybrids on the horizon would require motorists to charge their cars in a wall outlet and promise only 50 miles of gasoline-free commuting. And the popular gas-electric hybrids on the road today still depend on fossil fuels.

"It's a paradigm shift," said Ian Clifford, chief executive of Toronto-based ZENN Motor, which has licensed EEStor's invention. "The Achilles' heel to the electric car industry has been energy storage. By all rights, this would make the internal combustion engines unnecessary."

According to the AP report, the technology also could help invigorate the renewable-energy sector by providing efficient, lightning-fast storage for solar power or, on a small scale, a flash-charge for cell phones and laptops.

For you technology experts, EEStor's secret ingredient is a material sandwiched between thousands of wafer-thin metal sheets, like a series of foil-and-paper gum wrappers stacked on top of each other.

Charged particles stick to the metal sheets and move quickly across EEStor's proprietary material. The result is an ultracapacitor, a batterylike device that stores and releases energy quickly.

...

[rusty quoin]

1. I love this kind of news. We can do it, under the right leadership

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. This also has applications...

Across the board with electrical generation, no matter what manner is used to generate it.

Sounds like some very disruptive technology is at hand.

[OKIsItJustMe]

3. Battery Breakthrough?

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/18086/page1/

Monday, January 22, 2007

Battery Breakthrough?

A Texas company says it can make a new ultracapacitor power system to replace the electrochemical batteries in everything from cars to laptops.

By Tyler Hamilton

...

EEStor claims that, using an automated production line and existing power electronics, it will initially build a 15-kilowatt-hour energy-storage system for a small electric car weighing less than 100 pounds, and with a 200-mile driving range. The vehicle, the company says, will be able to recharge in less than 10 minutes.

The company announced this week that this year it plans to begin shipping such a product to Toronto-based ZENN Motor, a maker of low-speed electric vehicles that has an exclusive license to use the EESU for small- and medium-size electric vehicles.

By some estimates, it would only require $9 worth of electricity for an EESU-powered vehicle to travel 500 miles, versus $60 worth of gasoline for a combustion-engine car.

"My understanding is that the leap from powder to product isn't the big leap," says Ian Clifford, CEO of ZENN, which is also an early investor in EEStor. "We're the first application, and that's thrilling for us. We took the initial risk because we believed in what they are doing. And energy storage is the game changer."

...

[greenman3610]

4. EEstor has been long on press and short on demonstrations so far

I do believe that this problem will be licked - and clearly
General Motors feels confident about the battery for its
2010 production of Chevy Volts.
I'm anxious to hear more from this company.

[OKIsItJustMe]

5. Is EEStor delaying its power system for cars?

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9770849-7.html

September 4, 2007 2:24 PM PDT

Is EEStor delaying its power system for cars?

Posted by Michael Kanellos

It looks like the futuristic power system for electric cars promised by EEStor could be a little late.

EEStor CEO Richard Weir told CNET News.com in a brief phone interview 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.

Although that means that the company could be in production by tomorrow, the time frame is a little wider, and extends about six months or so further into the future than previously stated.

...

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. EEStor Patent (# 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

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.

...

[AdHocSolver]

7. The spokesperson for this company is selling snake oil.

I am all for electric vehicles. I think that they can reduce oil consumption drastically, and I have been telling people this for the past 25 years.

However, several statements made by this company are hogwash. The first statement is that electric vehicles are capable of getting only 50 miles per charge. The General Motors experimental electric cars, the EV1 and EV2, that were leased to Californians between 1997 and 2003, got from 55 miles to 150 miles per charge, depending on which battery types were used.

The article then cites claims by the battery company that their batteries could be recharged in 5 minutes and power the car for 500 miles.

(snip)....
Now a Texas-based company by the name of EEStor promises "technologies for replacement of electrochemical batteries," which means motorists could plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles without gasoline.
....

Again, using the EV1/EV2 as an example, the batteries used to power these vehicles stored between 18.7 kWh and 26.4 kWh depending on battery type used. Using an arbitrary average of 25 kWh (kWh = kilowatt-hour) and a nominal voltage of the batteries connected in series of about 300 volts, the batteries would have to be charged at a rate of about 83.3 amperes for one hour to fully charge the bateries (83.3A x 300V = 25,000 watts x 1 hour = 25kWh).

To put an equivalent charge into the same batteries within 5 minutes ( 1/12 of an hour), you would need to charge at a current flow of 12 x 83.33 Amps = 999.996 Amps, or rounding, 1000 Amps. You couldn't pull that much current through your house wires without melting the wire. Anyway, the circuit breakers would pop immediately if you tried.

The article referred to belittles hybrid technology cars which "still depend on fossil fuels". The hybrid is still a superior technology since, properly implemented, a hybrid vehicle can get the equivalent of 50 MPG to 150 MPG, which sure beats the average mileage of vehicles today.

The hype put out by this company is so over the top that I suspect that they are talking "vaporware", not hardware. The concept they are working on is valid in principle. An electric battery is essentially a charge holder as is a capacitor. The battery stores and releases its charge by chemical action, which is slow and generates heat in the process. This is why they have to be charged and discharged at a relatively slow rate, or they can self-destruct. A capacitor stores and discharges current without needing this chemical reaction, so it can work much faster. However, as I pointed out above, a charging circuit that could work as quickly as they claim is impractical.

Where long range for an electrically powered vehicle is required, a hybrid vehicle using an onboard charging circuit consisting of a small internal combustion engine direct-coupled to an alternator for recharging the batteries is the way to go. The current hybrids like the Prius use a relatively large gasoline engine that actually drives the wheels. This limits its ability to save fuel. Only an electric motor should be used to drive the wheels. Any internal combustion engine should be used only to drive an alternator to recharge the batteries.

[skids]

8. Skepticism is merited with EEStor, but you are wrong on some points.

The EEstor publicity is indeed trying to ignore the advances in chemical battery (A123, Valence, AltairNano). There is no battery barrier to EVs other than production line scale up by these vendors.

However as for the ampheres, this is not a battery, it is an ultracapacitor, and it does not run at 300V it runs at 4KV. (as such 75% of its power is contained above 2KV). That changes the math dramatically. You couldn't do a 5 minute charge from household outlets, but with a HV charging station you could.

The new Li-ion techs ofer 15 minute charging times, so this is no drastic improvement, other than it will not wear out an ultracap as fast to subject it to fast charging regimes.

The hype about no-gas mileage you are correct is bull. The only thing that is important with EVs is that they are capable of performing as a car without firing up the gas engine, and that they save on gas. Because if they do the former, better batteries can come later on, and if they do the latter, they are helping.

Prius do have an EV-only mode, BTW, and companies that install PHEV kits for them will install the switch to activate this mode, which is there in the Japanese model but not in the U.S. The only reason they run the gas engine more than they should when in hybrid mode is that if it is being used for power surges, it needs to be kept warm or it will not meet emissions standards.

EEStor may put up within the next year, or they may continue to be vapor. If they don't get a workable product to their EV car company partner (I forget which one) and put a prototype on the road, then they should really just shut up. For a company so secretive about their milestones, they sure pump out enough "quotes" to let the journalists run wild on speculation.

[Joanne98]

9. Zenn Motor co only 3.89 a share!!!

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=ZNN.V

It just took a hit. Good time to pick up some!

[4dsc]

10. Still takes oil to build these things

So in about 40 years when oil is really scarce, how will you build these cars?? Too much shortsightedness here..

[razzleberry]

11. c'mon

huge benefit,
by not needing oil for fuel.

[OKIsItJustMe]

12. Okay, help me out here...

1. Why does it take "oil" to build them?
   i.e. I assume you mean smelting iron and such.
2. What form of transportation would you suggest as an alternative?
   Buggies perhaps?

You're right. Too much shortsightedness on your part.

[Nihil]

13. Just a guess ...

> Why does it take "oil" to build them?

Every bit of plastic and most of the man-made materials are made from oil.

I don't know what 4dsc meant but I'd guess that it was the above rather
than anything about using oil as a power source for manufacture.

[Dead_Parrot]

14. My 2c worth...

1. When was the last time you saw tires made from organic rubber?
Come to think of it, when you last see organic brake fluid? paint? tail-light-lenses? seat covers? exhaust gaskets? lubricant?

2. What's wrong with buggies?

[phantom power]

15. Supposedly EEStor was going to be shipping product to ZENN about... now.

I see they are still shipping press releases on schedule, though.

[TheWraith]

16. I don't buy this.

In any industry, but particularly in medicine and technology, there are always claims about the great new thing somebody's discovered. Only it never makes it into use, because more research results in a better understanding of the drawbacks.

Researchers who want funding tout their their new cure for cancer, only to find out a year or two later that it doesn't work like they thought. Engineers hype a better battery or an improved solar cell, but the technology can never be brought out of the lab and in to practical use.

So no, I don't buy this. Besides which, you can already build a very practical electric car using Lithium Ion cells. Tesla Motors is doing it, and Chevrolet is getting into the act too.