Is the Super Battery Closer Than We Think?
Wed Jan 24, 2007 3:13AM EST
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When we last left the issue of "super batteries" based on capacitors (in June 2006), they were mired in "research" at MIT, but researchers were hopeful to have commercial products out by the end of the decade. Good news: A "secretive" Texas startup has taken the technology and is running with it, with the goal of bringing it to market by the end of the year.
The catch: Not in a laptop, but in an electric car. EEStor is gearing up to sell its "barium-titanate powder" capacitor/battery hybrid to vehicle manufacturers (including ZENN cars, pictured), which currently rely on lead-acid batteries for power. In Technology Review's coverage of the technology, it notes: "Pound for pound, [the battery] 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 company also says the batteries recharge much faster and should not degrade significantly over time.
Is this all too good to be true? I'm not going to pretend I understand all the intricacies of ultra-capacitor design, but on paper the product looks legitimate. Until now, capacitors have never been designed that can provide such high levels of power, but the barium-titanate insulator is said to be able to allow the massive jump in voltage required for such an application. The company says its first production-class product will offer 15 kilowatt-hours to an electric car with a 200-mile driving range. The upshot: $9 of electricity could take you 500 miles (vs. $60 of gasoline).
Naturally there are many questions left to be answered, namely how well any of this works in the real world, and what might happen when your 3,500-volt car smashes into another 3,500-volt car at 75 mph. Detractors have also claimed that the technology EEStor is touting is impossible to create thanks to the laws of physics. Nor is there any roadmap for this technology coming to portable devices like laptops and cell phones, though it's included in the patent.
Meanwhile, if you want to see what a ZENN Car might look like, check out ZENN's site at zenncars.com.
Comments on Is the Super Battery Closer Than We Think?
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2 Posted by ib4it on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:22PM EDT Report Abuse
That Zen car is LAME. Maybe this battery will give it a boost, but I don't think there is much of a market for an ugly thing like that with a range of 50 miles at 25mph. That is a golf cart. Here is a car that is more like it. This is what we want to see. http://www.teslamotors.com/index.php?js_enabled=1
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3 Posted by codesuidae on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:28PM EDT Report Abuse
I'd buy an all electric Zenn car, if it can do 50 miles and 60MPH. The Tesla Motors car is ok, but why should I pay for 250 miles worth of batteries when I only drive 20 miles a day? I don't want sports car performance in my commuter vehicle, it is wasteful and useless, and my ego doesn't need that kind of boosting. The primary reasons for the development of electric cars is conservation and sustainability. That means that we ought to use the resources we need to get the job done, not the resources we can afford to waste on getting the job done. That is not to say that we shouldn't have sports cars, just that driving them to work every day is a bad idea.
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4 Posted by thefrener on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:04PM EDT Report Abuse
the future of the planet depends on us humans seeking ways to damage it less.An elestric motor is more efficient than a gas motor .How fast do you need to go anyway?If we can replace the use of fossil fuels we can make life on this planet easier.Unfortunately the man on the street is only thinking about tomorrow not the future until of course it hits him in the face.Global will not only effect far off countries it will begin to hit home sooner than we think.Just because you do not see the tree fall in the forest does not mean it has not fallen.
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5 Posted by thefrener on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:04PM EDT Report Abuse
the future of the planet depends on us humans seeking ways to damage it less.An electric motor is more efficient than a gas motor .How fast do you need to go anyway?If we can replace the use of fossil fuels we can make life on this planet easier.Unfortunately the man on the street is only thinking about tomorrow not the future until of course it hits him in the face.Global warming will not only effect far off countries it will begin to hit home sooner than we think.Just because you do not see the tree fall in the forest does not mean it has not fallen
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6 Posted by suzysailbag on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:50PM EDT Report Abuse
now i cannot email to a friend, since explorer 7..........and SP2 ?/??
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7 Posted by eboe98 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:51PM EDT Report Abuse
If zen can give me a little more out of there cars. I would consider buying one. For Example, If the max speed was anywhere 50-60mph and if it had a distance of 100-200mi per charge and would have a price range of 10-18,000 dollars.
1 Posted by thebike45 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:03PM EDT Report Abuse
I wouldn't concern myself about worries of accidents and voltages. Consider the fact that for a century automobile filled with explosive and flammable stores of gasoline have been crashing into each other with regularity. How about tanks filled with explosive hydrogen held under 10,000 pounds of pressure? There have been, of course accidents between hybrids that maintain voltages and power strong enough to electrocute already. I don't hear anybody complaining about that. Perhaps it would be more fruitful to ask someone who knows something about the batteries to explain why I shouldn't be concerned. I'm not concerned at all. Ain't no company ever going to get any highway vehicle approved for sale that prsents any sort of signifcant danger in this regard. If nothing else, the liability lawyers would block any attempt to pas highway safety standards testing. Worry about something that deserves it.