Eestor to prove Chevy Volt obsolete before launch?
By Matt Jansen
So far, the secret behind the Chevy Volt’s first 40 electric-only miles has originated from a line of lithium-ion batteries that fit snugly under the floor down the center of the vehicle. But, a new kind of battery and ultracapacitor combination technology designed by Eestor Inc. may be poised to make lithium-ion batteries, and the Chevy Volt, obsolete.
Eestor is a Texas based company that in the next several weeks is expected to “. . . release the results of independent third-party testing of its electrical energy storage unit, which aims to replace the electrochemical batteries we now use in everything from hybrid cars to laptop computers,” according to the Financial Post.
That’s quite a bold statement — here are some of the specifics that Eestor is claiming: the ultracapacitor and battery unit would fully charge in a few minutes, power a car for nearly 250 miles of regular use and weigh less than 10% of the lead-acid batteries currently in most cars, all for about the same cost.
Compare that feature list to the Chevy Volt’s current claims which reference 6 hours to charge the battery with about a 40 mile electric-only range, and the potential benefits are mind-boggling.
There is some speculation that Eestor may have engaged in talks with GM to license its technology, but right now exclusive rights to the new batter technology are owned by Canada-based Zenn Motor Co. and US defense contractor Lockhead Motor Corp.
With Eestor estimating that its technology will be ready for commercial use in just six months, that could throw GM’s current plans for the Chevy Volt into a tailspin.
Green technology companies have recently been enjoying a surge of investment dollars and Eestor’s customer Zenn Motor Co. is a great example. “Its shares have gained 81% over the past three months on the Toronto Venture Exchange despite the fact the company has yet to post a profit.”
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June 28th, 2008
Matt Jansen continus to demonstrate his inability to keep up with events. If so he would have known that Chevy Volt peoplea re in contact with EEStor and futher, that the Volt has already be configered to run on batteries alone, ala EEStor. Far from becoming obsolete, the Volt would siimply morh into a situation in which the EEStor devicess simply cecome the range extenders, taking the place of the gas powered
engine now in place. Matt Jansen has cocnsistently demonstrated that he never understood the flixibility of the E-Flex architecture, and here we have yet another
example. Success of the EEStor will make GM people VERY happy - its the answer to their prayers as they attempt to implement their stated goal of making the future of automabiles
electric - a goal stated over a year ago.
June 28th, 2008
I agree with Thomas Gray. If anything, GM is way ahead of the game. The Chevy Volt with its “in series” design can use just about any source that supplies electric power. The vehicle is designed around the electrical source, whether it be battery.fuel cell, etc. The EESTOR electrical storage module will greatly reduce the cost of the vehicle and thus allow it to become competitive with gasoline run engines.
It has been rumored that GM is negotiating with ZENN motors on some kind of joint venture. ZENN knows that it does not have the resources to completely apply the technology, but GM does. It would be a WIN-WIN situation for both companies. That would give GM control over the entire market.
If in fact that this technology is real, don’t be surprised if GM undergoes a massive changeover to electric vehicles.
The “market” will dictate the course of events that follow, what I call the “vinyl/CD” phenomenon.
June 28th, 2008
I am a zenn shareholder and it is indeed a fact that zenn is looking for an OEM company like GM to build it’s host vehicle the city zenn. This vehicle would use the Eestor technology and have the Zenn name but built by GM or another OEM company. Zenn is not saying who they are talking to specifically but GM would make sense and could be built in the empty Oshawa plant.
June 28th, 2008
Oh and I almost forgot.
If GM wanted to use the Eestore technology in their chevy volt, they would have to go through Zenn first because they hold the worldwide rights.
June 28th, 2008
Even if the EESU works as predicted it will be several years before Zenn could ramp up production to meet demand. All the other electric/hybrid car manufacturers would either license the technology from them or develop their own super batteries.
The game-changer will be when the ICE goes the way of the dodo bird once a “super battery” is released. Electric motors don’t wear out like engines, are much easier/cheaper to replace, and are far more standardized - there’s no real difference between a GE electric motor or a Samsung electric motor of the same rating, except the price and the label. Not only the gas tank but the powertrain disappears as the wheels are run by independent motors controlled by a CPU. The automobile becomes more like a PC where the owner simply configures his own using an online tool and swaps out parts as these wear or become obsolete. When you want a new car you buy a new shell kit and bolt it on the frame. If you wreck it you pull the (surviving) EESUs and motors off and build a new one from the chassis up, only replacing those parts your mechanic can’t salvage from the old one. Going all-electric changes the industry in ways we can’t really imagine yet.
June 29th, 2008
Even if the EESU lives up to all the hype, it will take time to get them into production, test them fur durability to the satisfaction of car makers, and design and test vehicles around them. That will take several years. It’ll have no impact on the Chevy Volt, but could result in a big improvement to the second-generation E-flex vehicles.
The car makers with a head start in apply this technology will be those already working on various kinds of plug-in cars: GM, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Renault/Nissan, as well as the startups: Aptera, Fisker, Tesla, Miles. (I purposely don’t list Toyota, since they seem determined to drag their feet as much as possible.)
June 29th, 2008
charge in minutes?? other info I’ve gleaned talks about 15 kwh for the lead acid, 8 hours to charge on household current, which I find hard to believe (do the math please, then allow for reallity with losses factored in, that a 15 anp circuit should be limited to 12 amp load etc.)
So does the charging system require another super capacititor in your home drawing curent over time(hours) that you magically transfer into the EESU in minutes? I don’t want to be around when the high voltage flashes over!
June 30th, 2008
EESTOR/ZENN likely goal is to get an EESU into every car manufacturer, just like Intel has with the uchip. I would not be doing a deal with GM because it would alienate the other manufacturers. Rather I would take a small non threatening manufacturer and ramp him up.
The Volt can accomodate the EESU when the time is right.
Bob
July 1st, 2008
Note that the premise of this article is based on the idea that the Chevy Volt would continue forward with Lithium-Ion technology. The Volt does have the capacity to use other sources of energy but GM has not emphasized this capability in its marketing campaigns, and the company continues to actively seek a partnership with a Lithium-Ion battery manufacturer.
The article also references GM’s past discussions with Eestor, “. . . there is some speculation that Eestor may have engaged in talks with GM to license its technology . . . “
July 3rd, 2008
The only thing EEStor is going to prove is that they are fraudulently seeking funding like so many other “tech” companies. See http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/4574
for example for data on individual barium titanate crystals. It’s too bad the investment community is being drained by so many worthless parasites.
July 6th, 2008
Bob’s comment seems he most plausible.
If these capateries can be mass produced, here will be no general technical or patent infringement invoked for other manufactures applying a similar , well known concept technology.
Any existing hybrid, phev or bev will simply fit cappateries as the numerous manufactures come on stream.
The technology, while substantial is unlikely to meet the exaggerated claims of the manufacturer.
July 7th, 2008
Whether or not the eestor ultra capacitor becomes a reality or over inflated hype remains to be seen.
As far as charing the capacitor in minutes, I belive the idea is to install the electrical equivilant of a toilet tank into your home grid. You need a second untracap that trickle charges over time off normal home power (something like 4-6 hours). When you want to charge your car, you “flush” your home-based ultracap at much higher voltages into your car.
As far as I know there is alot of research going into magnetic induction being used to charge EVs at high voltage as opposed to a direct connection in order to avoid the problem of HV electric arcs.
July 7th, 2008
Is anyone privy as to who the third-party testers are? Southwest Research Institute verified the Barium Titanate purity a year and a half ago, but I can find no indication who is overseeing this next testing phase.
July 7th, 2008
Matt,
Every article you write about the Volt is all the same: Here’s why the Volt sucks blah, blah, blah……
To say your reporting/opinionizing is not radically biased is hysterical. Bottom line is this, GM will be the first large OEM to market with a Eletric propulsed vehicle. If they want to run it off batteries(that exsist), ultracaps(which as of right now are farie tales), hydrogen(which you can’t get), or pig crap who cares. They will have the production facilities in place, ramped up to large scale, and have years of experience. The part your missing is the Volt isn’t about the Lithium batteries it’s about the eflex powertrain design. I was in New york at the Voltnation event and talked to Jon Launeker myself and asked him will the Volt ver1.0 be designed to have upgradebale batteries so the consumer can upgrade as the battery tech gets better. His answer was yes, as long as the new batteries can be shaped in the same physical dimensions as the origional ones. He also stated that GM wasn’t saying that it would be because of all the talk about supercaps and that eventually they might use a dual-stage li-ion - supercap battery which would obviously not fit inside the origional physical battery dimensions.
ps if you don’t know who Jon Launaker is you shouldn’t of wrote this article.
July 11th, 2008
From what I’ve read ZENN only has world wide rights to use the EESU in a specific class of cars. I think it’s determined by weight or maybe by maximum speed.
July 18th, 2008
You guys are confusing volts with current in the charge-time comments. The charge will tranfer from the “toilet tank” at under 200V. The current will be Large, so thick conduits will be needed. 10000A would need around 3/4 inch dia copper cable or shuntbars for example.
July 23rd, 2008
if eestor is legit, gm will make a very aggressive bid to buy zenn out completely in order to get zenn’s piece of eestor. they know that they can’t buy out lockheed or kliener, but zenn they could get.
gm could still liscense the technology out to other oems, ala toyata with their hybrid system, but they wouldn’t do it right away, rather they would want 3-5 years after they introduced their own line of eesu equipped vehicles.
July 23rd, 2008
It sounds easy to buy Zenn right now, but if EEstor batteries are the real thing then Zenn will become a major player in the automobile industry. Maybe Zenn will buy GM!
http://www.eestorbatteries.com
September 13th, 2008
what a load of…..