Lockheed Martin has signed a deal with EEStor to try to integrate the ultracapacitor start-up's electrical energy storage units into the defense contractor's products.
Financial terms of the agreement, announced Wednesday, were not disclosed.
EEStor is developing a ceramic battery chemistry that could provide 10 times the energy density of lead acid batteries at about a tenth of the weight and volume, according to Lockheed. A Lockheed spokesman said the company is interested in energy storage systems a soldier can carry, but also car batteries and energy systems for remote buildings.
Lockheed will spend most of the year evaluating samples it gets from EEStor and, if all goes well, it can start incorporating them into products. EEStor will begin to conduct qualification testing and mass production of the units in late 2008. As part of the contract, Lockheed will have the exclusive right to use EEStor products in the homeland security market.
The company also announced that former Dell Chairman Mort Topfer has joined its board. Last year, it was reported that Topfer left the board. The Toronto Star broke that story. (I wrote a story repeating what the Star said, citing the newspaper.) Reporter Tyler Hamilton says that Topfer did leave, but is now rejoining.
This marks another unexpected turn in the EEStor saga. The company has devised an energy storage device that it says can change the battery industry. Zenn Motors of Canada is an investor and wants to incorporate the batteries into its cars. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is said to be an investor.
EEStor, however, doesn't say a lot. In fact, the company rarely gives statements or issues releases, though it's one of the favorite topics of debate in the clean-tech world. For instance, EEStor didn't say it will begin qualification and testing on the battery units that are part of this deal. Lockheed did, in its own release (which, incidentally, doesn't include quotes from EEStor). EEStor didn't put a release out on the deal, though it put one out on Topfer.
Some people who have visited the company's facilities or reviewed its patents have come away believers. Others have become skeptics. EEStor had hoped to come out with products in 2007 but was forced to delay.
The Lockheed deal gives the company a shot of credibility. Critics, though, will likely remain skeptical until they see the devices. Defense contractors, after all, sign lots of deals like this.
EEStor: You truly are the company that keeps on giving.
Mort Topfer, the former vice chair of Dell and one of the execs credited in helping turn it from a local phenomenon to a global PC powerhouse, has left the board of EEStor, according to Tyler Hamilton. Hamilton is not the disgraced bike racer but a reporter for the Toronto Star.
It's just one more bit of baffling news out of the Texas-based manufacturer of ultracapacitors, a device that stores electricity, and no doubt another factoid that critics will use to say that the company is not living up to its promises.
The company is supposed to be working on a state-of-the-art energy storage system for cars that recharges rapidly. It can also, allegedly, keep cars going for hundreds of miles. It has a big following among readers.
People I've talked to who have visited the company or tried to talk to them about their technology, however, have often come away confused and skeptical. "Weird", "mystery" and a shrug of the shoulders were some of the comments I got from visitors. The company does not issue many press releases and rarely talks to the press.
"If you had a way to turn lead into gold, you think you'd tell people," is how one VC summed up his feelings about the company to me in August.
Earlier this year, CEO Richard Weir also said that the first products likely would come out on or before the middle of 2008, or six months or so later than planned.
The URL for the EEStor's web site has been up for sale for a number of months.
Mort, by the way, is a big loss. He has worked in electronics for years and is well regarded as someone who can help a company scale. Dell named its main manufacturing center in Austin after him. In person, though, you'd never guess he was a big wig. The first time we met was at the Dell booth at a trade show. I thought the older guy with the gray, shoulder-length hair was an eccentric looking for handouts.
A couple of people sent me links to an Associated Press story, "Texas Startup Says It Has Batteries Beat."
In the story, AP writer Grant Slater presents the claim by Austin, Texas, start-up EEStor (the company has no Web site yet) that "a motorist could plug in a car for five minutes and drive 500 miles roundtrip between Dallas and Houston without gasoline."
Now, c'mon. This is just not practical. I can say this even though I know nothing about EEStor's technology beyond news reports that it's some kind of high-density ... Read more
It looks like the futuristic power system for electric cars promised by EEStor could be a little late.
EEStor CEO Richard Weir told CNET News.com in a brief phone interview that commercial production of its energy storage system--a device that holds electricity and functions somewhat like a battery--will be sometime in the next 10 months or so. The unit is also referred to as an "ultracapacitor."
"We intend to be in production on or before the middle of next year," he said.
Although that means that the company could be in production by tomorrow, the time frame is a little wider, and extends about six months or so further into the future than previously stated.
Back in January, the company stated that it would start shipping 15 kilowatt hour electrical energy storage units to Canada's Zenn Motors, its first customer, in 2007. Zenn's cars will mark the first commercial application of EEStor's technology.
EEStor has been somewhat secretive about its technology, but proponents claim it will revolutionize the automotive industry because it will deliver electrical storage units that can power cars for hundreds of miles and can be recharged in minutes. By contrast, lithium-ion batteries now being prepared for cars take hours to charge and can take cars 200 miles or less. Skeptics have wondered whether EEStor can live up to its claims.
A six-month delay isn't that serious of an issue for a start-up, and a number of clean-tech companies have faced delays this year. Tesla Motors had to postpone its electric cars a few months, while in solar both Miasole and DayStar Technologies have had delays. So has GreenFuel Technologies, which wants to turn algae into fuel and clean carbon dioxide from the environment. But it's not great news either, and underscores the difficulty of bringing some of these green technologies to market.
Zenn, which invested in EEStor earlier this year, currently sells low-speed electric cars that run on more conventional batteries. These low-speed cars, which are similar to those made by other small manufacturers like Miles Automotive, are designed for campuses and retirement communities. The U.S. Department of Defense has also launched a program to buy a significant number of low-speed vehicles.
For more information, you need to go to Zenn's Web site. EEStor doesn't have one.
You can't learn a lot from looking at the Web site of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers either. The firm is reportedly an investor in EEStor, but EEstor is not listed as a portfolio company on the firm's site. Venture firms, however, do this at times with stealth companies.
(Credit:
Zenn Motor)
Is it possible to achieve dharma at 25 mph?
The Zenn (which stands for Zero Emission, No Noise), available since February from Feel Good Cars subsidiary Zenn Motor, can be purchased from 33 dealerships throughout 20 U.S. states.
Surprised that you've never heard of the two-"n" Zenn? That may be because the company doesn't plan to have an official car-promoting launch until September 9, a company representative told CNET News.com last week.
Priced between $12,750 and $16,000, depending on options selected, the car offers a driving range of up to 35 miles per charge. And while the car can theoretically go faster, it tops out at 25 mph, in keeping with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Regulations for this type of car.
Ironically, while the Zenn was developed by a publicly traded company based in Canada, it has not yet been approved for street-legal driving in Canadian provinces. But it's among one of the electric cars you can buy right now in the United States.
Of course, that's not the most interesting thing about this company.
In April 2007, Zenn Motor paid about $2.5 million for a 3.8 percent share in EEstor, a company that claims to be developing a revolutionary technology that will offer a much longer charge range than those of prevalent chemical batteries. It remains to be seen whether future versions of the Zenn will have this "super battery."
While Zenn cars may have a special power source from EEStor, its current three-door hatchback model offers a battery that can become 80 percent recharged in 4 hours, or fully recharged in 8 hours, from any standard 120-volt outlet.
And for our left-loving neighbors in the United Kingdom, Japan and elsewhere, Zenn Motor posts in its specs that it is also offering a right-side drive option.
If you've been working in electric transportation for a while, you'll know the name EEStor.
The company says it has a supercapacitor, which is sort of like a solid state battery, which could replace gas engines. Moreover, unlike lithium ion batteries, the supercapacitor won't take hours to recharge. It recharges rapidly.
But those are the claims. When it comes to discussing the fine points of the technology, the company clams up. I've contacted them several times and they have not responded. During a business trip to Texas in May, one reporter asked me just to do a drive-by and see if they would answer the door. He's also been rebuffed several times.
I've talked to potential customers and investors who visited the company--when it came time to talk technology, the company clammed up. "Weird", "mystery" and a shrug of the shoulders were some of the comments I got from visitors.
Most of the articles on these guys have been vague, but upbeat. Last year, the Toronto Star had a bit more detail, and EEStor threatened them, according to this post. The links to the original story no longer work.
The facilities, though, are supposed to be state-of-the-art. The place looks like a lab set up by DARPA, I'm told. That's where a lot of the money from Kleiner, Perkins apparently is going apparently.
The company in January said it hit a production milestone for the chemicals inside the unit. (Unfortunately, the minimal company Web site, which functioned in May, has gone AWOL. Still, you can find the release on the Web in other places) Rumors say that it may reveal more in September.
Then again, this Howard Hughes vanishing act could be the sign of something other than a run-up to a coming out party. EEstor wouldn't be the first alternative-energy company to come up with a delay. Miasole (another Kleiner, Perkins company) and Greenfuel Technologies have recently delayed.
Zenn Motor Company announced an investment in the company.
"We are very pleased to strengthen and deepen our strategic relationship with EEStor through this investment," said Zenn CEO Ian Clifford in a press release.
In any event, here's a patent from the company. (It's from 2006 and the only one that's been issued so far.) If you want to know more, take a look.
Some highlights from the filing:
"This invention relates generally to energy-storage devices, and relates more particularly to high-permittivity ceramic components utilized in an array configuration for application in ultrahigh-electrical-energy storage devices."
"One aspect of the present invention is that the materials used to produce the energy-storage unit, EESU, are not explosive, corrosive, or hazardous."
"Another aspect of the present invention is that the EESU initial specifications will not degrade due to being fully discharged or recharged."
"Yet another aspect of the present invention is that the coating of aluminum oxide and calcium magnesium aluminosilicate glass on calcined composition-modified barium titanate powder provides many enhancement features and manufacturing capabilities to the basis material."
Good, or too good to be true? Hopefully we will find out soon.
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