Green fantasy tech one step closer to reality

Lockheed Martin signs exclusive contract with Eestor for energy storage units 9

Oh! I forgot to pass on some interesting news that came my way recently.

Defense mega-contractor Lockheed Martin has signed a contract with mysterious ultracapacitor company Eestor to use its energy storage devices in "military and homeland security applications."

This seem huge. The buzz around Eestor -- more here -- has been intense, and the claims it makes on behalf of its ultracapacitors are astonishing. If they pan out, it could revolutionize the auto industry, and that's no exaggeration. The problem has been figuring out how much of it is hype. Though the company's backed by a some respected VC outfits, the only contract it has signed is with Zenn, the wee electric car company. And of course no one has seen a working prototype.

If Lockheed Martin is putting its name on the bottom line, that strikes me as a substantial vote of confidence.

One note of interest: a guy from Zenn told me that Eestor is contractually obliged to deliver working battery units to Zenn before it starts making product for LM. That means there's a huge pot of money for Eestor on the other side of Zenn, which substantially raises my confidence in Zenn's chances.

More from Tyler Hamilton here and here, and an interview with a Lockheed Martin guy here. Here's a short chunk:

Are you confident that their technology will offer a greater amount of energy and power density than batteries?
Yes, and at a fraction of the cost.

Do their caps hold 10x the energy at 1/10th the weight of a lead acid battery?
Yes.

How does the the price of EEStor' s capacitors compare with Li-ion or NiMh batteries?
It really depends on the chemistry, the volume, the packaging, the application. It is really application-specific. It's going to be lower price. Were not just concerned about hardware cost. Really what were focused on is logistics. Especially the logistics footprint in theater. That' s probably more important than material cost. And that one of the things that we think this technology can bring. Because it can be used for a variety of applications with a common architecture and chemistry. Its compact, its scalable and can be applied to a variety of applications. That obviously very attractive to a logistics community, to have more common components and that type of thing.

Is there a production plan for 2008?
Yes for EEStor. Their approach is when they start manufacturing these batteries, not just the cells, but also the package assembly, they will be in production. If you can get a visit to EEStor they' ll show you their process and everything they've got in place to support that. Assuming that everything comes together in terms of tests and qualifications and that sort of thing, they will be ready to ramp up very quickly, because of the nature if the architecture and scalability of what they are doing.

David Roberts is staff writer for Grist. You can follow his Twitter feed at twitter.com/drgrist.

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  1. Gar Lipow's avatar

    Gar Lipow Posted 3:03 am
    01 Feb 2008

    InterestingI've leaned towards the scam side of the equation in judging EESTOR. If proven wrong, I'm going to host one hell of a party to celebrate.

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  2. Sean Casten's avatar

    Sean Casten Posted 3:16 am
    01 Feb 2008

    OK, but...The cost pressures on military applications are rather less severe than those on passenger cars.  DARPA and other military-types have done some really cool stuff with various EV technologies (which have a nice combat benefit of having no noise, and comparatively little heat signature compared with IC engines).  There is obviously value should those trickle down, but I wouldn't hold my breath until we see businesses with more cost pressures also take it up.

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  3. amazingdrx's avatar

    amazingdrx Posted 3:30 am
    01 Feb 2008

    FireflyMuch more practical for plugin hybrids.  Available this summer as a semi-truck battery the "Oasis".
    EEstore has delayed releasing any substantial test results for years.  VCs scammed or VCs scammed and trying to pass it along to reduce losses.  To a government contractor, why not, they have unlimited funds.
    If it does look promising the contractor can suppress the technology.  national security!  What's good for exxonmob is good for bushmerica inc.

    http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

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  4. sunflower's avatar

    sunflower Posted 5:47 am
    01 Feb 2008

    Hit a charged capacitor with a hammer, it explodes

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  5. theBike45 Posted 9:32 am
    01 Feb 2008

    Conspiracy fools 101 Lockheed Martin is obligated to use the technology or the contract becomes moot. The idea that a prime contractor would avoid using a technology that would enable it to garner enormous contracts shouln't make any sense to even a Bush hater like amagingdrx.  Lockheed Martin has contracted to use the device for a specific purpose - namely military applications. Those rights DO NOT include exclusive usage, which your silly statement claims.  The fact is that any other automaker can employ EEStor's EESUs as long as they don't infringe on Zenn's exclusivity rights. Lockheed Martin has not obtained an exclusive usage agreement, which should have been obvious to even the braindead , since Zenn will be installing them in their cars.  

     And now it looks like ExxonMobil may save the day with their new advanced lithium ion batteries. Looks like amazingdrx will now have to not only use Exxon's gasoline but also their batteries. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

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  6. Pompey Road Posted 10:54 am
    01 Feb 2008

    Flux CapacitorI hope this new technology finds its way into a cool Delorean so we can go 100 years into the future and see if we made it or not. Maybe we can get an upper atmosphere air sample to see what the Co2 level is. I hardly believe that Lockheed Martin would or could surpress the technology. Another conspiricy theory, maybe this is where the missing 2.3 trillion from the pentagon budget went to or is Haliburton the only one that gets no bid contracts.  

    The eons of time and nature was good to us down here. It was not until we become civilized that destroying our habitat become fathomable or fashionable.

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  7. Gar Lipow's avatar

    Gar Lipow Posted 4:28 am
    02 Feb 2008

    Scam or RealLike I said, I hope it is real. But after my optimistic post yesterday, it occurred to me that these days a Pentagon contract is not conclusive evidence against scam.  If the contractor is politically connected enough, they may not even be required to deliver anything, whatever the contract says. Still we'll wait and see. But I don't care if the breakthrough is by Exxon, or Toyota or whoever - the sooner 1000+ cycle auto batteries are available for under $300 per per kWh of capacity the better. In a pinch 500 cycles will do and $600 per kWh will do. Something many times better in cost per cycle? Great.

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  8. GreyFlcn Posted 5:10 am
    02 Feb 2008

    More reality than fantasy?Say has anyone read about what University of Arizona has been doing in this field?
    http://uanews.opi.arizona.edu/node/13160

    http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2007/03/digitat ...

    http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-dark-horse-in-rac ...

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  9. John former Marine Posted 5:28 am
    02 Feb 2008

    more $500 toilet seats?Lockheed Martin...were they the ones selling us $500 toilet seats or was that Haliburton?  Come on...DoD works as hard as they possibly can to WASTE money, not save it.  I'm not buying it.  Defense contractors can afford to pay a lot more for technology than it's worth because they get tons (literally) of cash.  Hell...paying Haliburton and peers must keep the treasury presses rolling 24/7.  We should just give them their own money presses and tell them to print themselves however much they want for whatever they feel like doing.

    Shu pas a vende.

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