An Austin company is in the news this week for an invention which could upend the battery industry. EEstor, which has received $3 million in venture backing from Kleiner Perkins, claims to have developed and patented a battery which would allow a motorist to plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles round-trip – the equivalent of driving from Austin to New Orleans – without gasoline.
The technology has been licensed to several groups, including Toronto-based ZENN Motor Company. Zenn’s CEO, Ian Clifford, claims that the technology is "a paradigm shift. The Achilles heel to the electric car industry has been energy storage. By all rights, this would make internal combustion engines unnecessary."
Previous attempts to improve ultracapacitors have focused on improving the metal sheets by increasing the surface area where charges can attach. EEStor is instead creating better nonconductive material for use between the metal sheets, using a chemical compound called barium titanate. The question is whether the company can mass-produce it. However, should the company deliver on its promises, the potential for the company is huge, and the impact on Austin and its clean energy initiatives equally meaningful.
If this works t could be the breakthrough that this technology has been waiting for – I’ve driven battery powered ars before in a previous job and they are fun but limited in how far you can go – I know because I got caught out and it’s very embarassing when you come to a stop!!