Eestor battery hits delay, Chevy Volt dodges that bullet
By Matt Jansen
This could be one of those instances where an established business with a high level of skepticism is paying off. GM has been reluctant to partner with Eestor in developing it’s new ultracapacitor in any way because of the uncertainty surrounding the technology. Eestor just revealed that its battery won’t be available by the end of 2008 as originally expected, which means the Chevy Volt project may have dodged a bullet.
If GM had partnered with Eestor to develop battery technology for the Chevy Volt then its goal to mass produce them by 2010 would be in jeopardy. That spells potential disaster for a company as stretched as GM is right now.
In an e-mail interview, Eestor CEO told GM-Volt that:
As we stated in the beginning of 2008, properly funded EEStor, Inc. would anticipate in being in production status late in 2008.
The funding that we did receive was not sufficient to meet the production status late in 2008 but as identified by our last news release, EEStor, Inc. has made excellent progress with that level of funding.
Eestor has remained fastidiously secretive, which makes sense if the technology it brags about holds up to the company’s claims.
ZENN Motors, Inc and Light Electric Vehicles both have contracts with Eestor and are providing venture capital funding. They both hope to leapfrog the rest of the automotive industry by integrating Eestor’s ultracapacitor into their vehicle lineups. Supposedly the new technology uses barium titanate powder, weighs less than traditional lithium-ion, and is less costly to manufacture.
While Eestor has hired a third party to verify its progress twice now, no real information has been shared with the public on how this technology will work in the real world. Still, with the current state of the global economy and a tendency toward conservative spending, it’s good to see companies that are still willing to take risks.
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October 28th, 2008
Matt once again talks about things he obviously knows nothing about. EEStor casn hardly be “secretive” and yet “brag about their devices.” EEStor has stated what they believe their devices are capable of. Matt, that’s called informing the public, not bragging.
MAtt is also obviously confused about what those third party folks actualy did. While Matt claims they shed no light, he obviouslt is ignorant about what they were hired to test. Test they did, and report to the public they did, enough to move the stock. The fact that the
tests were not of the devices themselves seems to have escaped Matt’s notice. Why oh why, does this website continue publishing the nonsensical and always obsolete comments by one so completely incapable of understanding the technology. As for the supposed benefit GM obtained by not “partnering” with EESTor, I would ask Matt to explain what exactly he thinks GM is doing with LG and A123 Systems? GM did
NOT partner with LG, which it will award at least the first contract for the E-Flex platform. Apparently matt doesn’t know that EEStor already has licensed the technology to ZENN Motors for most applications, so that even if GM did “partner” with EESTor (which actually makes no logical sense), they would have gained nothing
that they don’t already have. namely the ability , like everyone else, to buy the EESUs from ZENN Motors, EESTor’s (more or less) exclusive distributor. OK folks, how many of you want tech.blorge to fire Matt jensen and hire someone semi-competent? Hands, please.
October 28th, 2008
This is hardly new – they have been saying 2009 for a while now – how is it “news” all of a sudden?
As for GM, the Volt isn’t close to what they originally pitched to the public and chances are they won’t be out any sooner than EEStor has their ultracap’s ready for ZENN. That said, I wish the big three would adopt EEStor’s technology as it greatly increase the production capabilities and could be the biggest chance at displacing our needs of oil (foreign or domestic).
October 29th, 2008
Woah Curt, How about you wait for EEscam to produce one crude prototype cap before you get too far in your fantasy? Sorry folks but this is a classic scam. You will hear about the next delay in 6 months or so. The reason for that delay will also not be EEscam’s fault.
Dear Zenn, You might want to work up a lithium-ion option into your new model. You will not see a working unit from EEscam.
October 29th, 2008
Perhaps Matt owns too much GM stock. Are you holding your breath, Matt, waiting for the shoe to finally drop?
GM has bet the farm on an automotive slug (Chevy Volt) that, oh joy of joys, is going to “double” its range of 40(?) miles to 80… maybe.
Sell that stock, Matt and try being a reporter instead.
October 29th, 2008
I strongly suspect a scam or at least grossly exaggerated claims by EEStor. Why would funding be so difficult to obtain if the technology is so convincing? After all, EEstor claims it is at the pre-production stage, which means a working prototype must exist, assuming their claims are true. At that point it would be a simple matter to demonstrate the device to prospective investors. If it is what is claimed, investors would stand in line to invest in the product. The amounts of funding required for this are small relative to the amounts of venture capital typically provided for truly convincing R&D. Why hasn’t the department of energy supported this, if it’s what is claimed? EEstor’s claim of lack of investment capital seems incompatible with their claim to be at the pre-production stage.
October 29th, 2008
Agree that EEStor is a scam or as others have said “guilty of gross exaggeration” Barium Titanate has been used for decades, but no one has made similar claims to Eestor. Additionally, Richard Weir “claims” to have done this, but he has never made anything available for peer/scientific review. Several months ago he tried to pass off the certification of his equipment as “news” but it was merely a cleverly worded press release that flopped.
November 7th, 2008
q) What’s the difference between a functioning Eestor energy storage device, and Bigfoot?
a) Some people have actually seen Bigfoot!
:-D
March 20th, 2009
well its been another 6 months, bout time for another delay from eescam, I mean eestor.
Wish I could get a deal like that, live 20 years on someone else’s money. ;)