Eestor Update
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 09.26.06
When you type eestor into google, our previous treehugger entry comes up at the top; you don't get the company, which has even taken their website down. They were secretive last March when they stomped all over Toronto Star's Tyler Hamilton, and they are saying less now. Fortunately Ian Clifford of Feel Good cars is not so tightlipped, and told Business 2.0 that "it will charge up in five minutes and provide enough energy to drive 500 miles on about $9 worth of electricity. At today's gas prices, covering that distance can cost $60 or more; the EEStor device would power a car for the equivalent of about 45 cents a gallon. And we mean power a car. "A four-passenger sedan will drive like a Ferrari," says Clifford." (we suspect before they duct-taped his mouth shut)
We have not been able to find out much more information- Ian Clifford and Business 2.0 are the first new words on Eestor since the original post. There is a fascinating thread of comments over at the energy blog, including links to the patent and some interesting explanations and questions, like: "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. It better be self-healing." 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.
In summary: There is no news, just hype from an article where someone probably said too much for his own good. ::business 2.0 As Tyler Hamilton says, When are they going to come out of the closet?
Follow @TreeHugger on Twitter & get our headlines with @TH_rss!
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Green Glossary: Bagasse
- Build a Greenhouse without Going Broke
- Compost Stink? Add Cardboard!
- Green Demolitions Recycles Your Junk, Helps You Find New, Energy-Efficient Appliances
- Make Your Own Butterfingers
- Find Your Dinner at the Farmers' Market: Peas and Prosciutto
Yet the basic idea of using an ultra- or "hyper" capacitor to add a fast charge capability to a plug in hybrid is quite alluring. These are lightweight, carbon based, available in pre-wired banks just like LMH batteries in existing hybrids, and segmented into C+ size cells that are intrinsically safer.
Ya the first paragraph sounded way to good to be true. The infrastructure needed for a 5 min charge is way beyond what can be done at a house although it could be done at special charging stations. If some of those comments are based on fact however sounds promising.
Sounds about 3 times the WH/kg than the modern Li-ion battery. But 3500 volts scares me, versus the 3.5V on a lithium cell. Plus, you need to get that high voltage back down to the ten's of volts required by modern electric wheel motors. That circuitry isn't trivial.
Not sure why the 3500 volts should be that scary. And tens of volts? Most good electric motors run on 480V or in the case of the Tesla Roadster, 360V. The circuitry is trivial to do the drop, the problem will be the switching, since the capacitor will not have a constant voltage. Plus, I find the 5 minute charge stuff rather humorous. Why would you ever need to recharge in 5 minutes at home? Trickle charge at home, fast charge at service stations. Main transmission lines carry MW levels of electricity, so 4 or 5 cars recharging at a service station would, in fact, be trivial. The real problem: are the claims true?
For the U.L.M
Re:"When are they going to come out of the closet?"
Why should EEStor start "hyping" around until they've actually got their device ready to show?Look what's happened to Steorn about their magnetic device. The skeptics are having a "field day" trying desperately to force among the general public a view that it's a definite scam, despite the honest efforts of Steorn to be up front about everything their doing, without at the same time, revealing intellectual property.
No, if I were EEStor, I would do exactly as they're doing, staying "in the closet" and shutting up until I had my "battery" ready to perform as claimed, in public, so it could not be put down by the pseudo-skeptics. After all, it has been some of the most virulent skeptics who have not so politely advised energy-type companies to cut the gab until their devices can be shown to work without doubt.
Re:"you need to get that high voltage back down to the ten's of volts required by modern electric wheel motors. That circuitry isn't trivial."
I think that's the 10% or so remaining in device development that EEStor is working on:getting the voltage down, and handling the safety aspect of accidental high discharge, such as a fire or explosion due to component failure. It reminds me of the fairlures which once occured with the Ford Model A when its gas tank was right in front of the driver. In those days, any collision could produce a nasty fire. EEStor must ensure passive safety under failure. It seems to me that the higher the volumetric energy density, the greater the danger of serious consequences in case of accident or device failure.
But I do think the EEStor technology is very real.
Us Patent:- 7,033,406
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&S1=(%22EEStor%22.ASNM.)&OS=an/
and the problem is what ....
considering we sit on 50+ litres of highly flamable petro chemical.
They have the darn battery already. What they don't have is a method for insuring that another huge corporation gets a lot of revenue and profit from providing the (fuel / electricity) to run these things across the country. Until those in power figure out how to get filthy rich off fueling these batteries, you or I won't see one in operation....period. Welcome to free enterprise.