Technology Review on EEStor
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 01.22.07
They are definitely opening the kimono at EESTor, even giving interviews. According to TR, The company boldly claims that its system, a kind of battery-ultracapacitor hybrid based on barium-titanate powders, will dramatically outperform the best lithium-ion batteries on the market in terms of energy density, price, charge time, and safety. Pound for pound, it will also pack 10 times the punch of lead-acid batteries at half the cost and without the need for toxic materials or chemicals, according to the company.
The implications are enormous and, for many, unbelievable. Such a breakthrough has the potential to radically transform a transportation sector already flirting with an electric renaissance, improve the performance of intermittent energy sources such as wind and sun, and increase the efficiency and stability of power grids--all while fulfilling an oil-addicted America's quest for energy security.
Richard Weir, EEStor's cofounder and chief executive, says he would prefer to keep a low profile and let the results of his company's innovation speak for themselves."We're well on our way to doing everything we said," Weir told Technology Review in a rare interview.::Technology Review
We are all anxious to see a real product, not a claim they are "on track" To make a big deal out of obtaining pure Barium Nitrate, and having it analyzed is not verification of claiming a thousand-fold improvement in a techology that dozens of people have been working on for years, getting very different results on the same material set.
If you google capacitors you will see a similar claim every year for the past 25 years.
The first step is to produce a working capacitor, not a powered capacitor car.
Like batteries, a capacitor has to be operate through many charge/discharge (a problem) and to not blow up with age or over charging (another problem).
A full blow capacitor car is unlikely. Using them with a battery pack is a far more likely scenerio, because their characteristics complement themselves when used together.
I would hope this is a breakthrough, but a preference to keep a breakthrough "low key" is just not believable. After all these companies need to get funding and sell product. If their technique worked dozens of companies would be lining up to use or license it. They wouldn't have to build a car in order to have a market for it. After all, Toyota could just put a capacitor pack in the Prius far faster than to build a car, with all the complications and business risk of building cars.
This is just another Technology review article that is dreamily promisng a technology thats not ready for prime time..
It's all about the powder
Your pseudonym is "crap" spelled backwards, is that telling us something?