Energy for (nearly) free

Filed in archive Technology on March 8, 2006

"It's the holy grail of battery technology," said my source. "It means you could do a highway capable electric city car that would recharge in three or four minutes and drive you from Toronto to Montreal.

This is what Treehugger writes about a new technology to replace all kinds of batteries we know.

And: "If everything they say is true, then that's pretty amazing," says MacMurray Whale, an energy analyst at Sprott Securities and a former professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Victoria. "To do all of that is unheard of when you look at any other battery technology out there."

Other features:
* Whereas with lead acid batteries you might get lucky to have 500 to 700 recharge cycles, the EEStor technology has been tested up to a million cycles with no material degradation.

* EEStor's technology could be used in more than low-speed electric vehicles. The company envisions using it for full-speed pure electric vehicles, hybrid-electrics (including plug-ins), military applications, backup power and even large-scale utility storage for intermittent renewable power sources such as wind and solar.

* Because it's a solid state battery rather than a chemical battery, such being the case for lithium ion technology, there would be no overheating and thus safety concerns with using it in a vehicle.

* Finally, with volume manufacturing it's expected to be cost-competitive with lead-acid technology.

Long lasting and quick charging wearables will become possible...

via Treehugger