After Gutenberg

There is talk in the blogosphere that EEStor hopes to produce a 52 kW pack of ultra capacitors for $2,000. If true, this would be world changing. One commentator was quick to imagine such energy storage in Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster.

This blog hopes that the modelling, simulation, construction and testing of power electronic components in electric drive systems has taken an important step forward with such announcements as Tesla Motors selling their first 100 prototype roadsters and establishment of the X Prize. Related to innovation in cleaner, more efficient transportation, on the Energy Blog recently there was a resurgence about the progress of EEStor.

There has been a good deal of skepticism about this company because they have been maintaining stealth mode. It could be worthwhile to recall the adage: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” Nonetheless, the claims have sounded very good. Nick observed, “They promise a 50kwhr pack at about $2,000. That’s incredibly cheap, about 10% of the cost of conventional li-ion’s. If they can do that, it really does change everything.” Matt observed that the EEStor capacitor can store enough for a 200-300 mile range with an electric drivetrain. This, of course, would depend upon the weight of the vehicle; the weight of the ultra cap pack is only 330 lbs.

Now, if we assume that EEStor cannot meet their claims then yes, ultracapacitors would be good as part of improving the current technology. But this isn’t a normal capacitor, ultra- or otherwise.

So far, development of electric cars has focused primarily upon a battery electric vehicle for limited use in an urban environment or closed community environment, or other vehicle with some sort of range extender, most notably a plug-in, flex fuel vehicle. Certainly, there have been cars, usually conversions by hobbyists that use massive battery packs to extend range. Range in an electric vehicle, nevertheless, has been the main stumbling block. For instance, some respondents to the WKTEC clamor have observed that the dirty little secret about the glamorous EV1 was its limited range.

Meanwhile, research continues on new motor types, appropriate power electronics controllers, and energy optimising control strategies, to include:

• Research on permanent magnet and reluctance motors
• Improvements to Pulse Width Modulated Voltage Source Inverters
• Investigation into new converter types such as Resonant Converters and Direct Converters
• Intensive research into improved modulation strategies for various types of converters, e.g., switch-mode DC-DC converters
• In the field of power supply the study of high frequency AC/DC and DC/AC converters with a high power factor
• Application of expert systems and Fuzzy Logic to power electronics.

TEM of Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube
Shinshu University Endo Lab

“Maybe the most significant spin-off product of fullerene research, leading to the discovery of the C60 “buckyball” by the 1996 Nobel Prize laureates Robert F. Curl, Harold W. Kroto, and Richard E. Smalley, are nanotubes based on carbon or other elements. These systems consist of graphitic layers seamlessly wrapped to cylinders. With only a few nanometers in diameter, yet (presently) up to a millimeter long, the length-to-width aspect ratio is extremely high. A truly molecular nature is unprecedented for macroscopic devices of this size.” – The Nanotube Site

But, all such improvements in efficiency or the means to capture and reuse kinetic energy, “take a backseat” to energy storage development. This is where intensive R&D is needed. And, EEStor actually may be a company that could make use of recent development in nanotechnology to produce a revolutionary means of energy storage.