New Future For Batteries

DeltaDan · Post by **DeltaDan** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 1:00 pm

A Texas company says it can make a new ultracapacitor power system to replace the electrochemical batteries in everything from cars to laptops.

A secretive Texas startup developing what some are calling a "game changing" energy-storage technology broke its silence this week. It announced that it has reached two production milestones and is on track to ship systems this year for use in electric vehicles.

EEStor's ambitious goal, according to patent documents, is to "replace the electrochemical battery" in almost every application, from hybrid-electric and pure-electric vehicles to laptop computers to utility-scale electricity storage.

The company boldly claims that its system, a kind of battery-ultracapacitor hybrid based on barium-titanate powders, will dramatically outperform the best lithium-ion batteries on the market in terms of energy density, price, charge time, and safety. Pound for pound, it 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.

More ~~~> http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/18086/

Quantum_Kid · Post by **Quantum_Kid** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 3:08 pm

Sounds pretty cool to me! Plus not having any toxic chemicals is a nice feature, and environmentally friendly too

BassManDan · Post by **BassManDan** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 5:59 pm

If they come out to the general public, I would like to see the price tag, but it sounds like it would be worth it!

Cool info, thx.

BassManDan

Jerry · Post by **Jerry** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 7:54 pm

How much lighter would they be, I mean this could be even better than it sounds. Not having to carry a extra 100 pounds of batteries on board would really help gas consumption.

Hitman · Post by **Hitman** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:55 pm

I would anticipate the cost to be much more expensive then lead-acid batteries. I've had the opportunity to work with some companies that manufacture hydrogen fuel cells for cell site applications. One of the issues they face is trying to eliminate the need for any type of battery systems while the fuel cell ramps up power. One solution is the use of ultracapacitors. The down side is the expense of the ultracapacitors. A single ultracapacitor that would handle a 1amp load costs about $5000.