EEStor Hits Testing Milestone

It’s been a while since we’ve written about controversial ultracapacitor manufacturer, and super stealth-mode company, EEStor and now-legendary Patent No. 7,033,406. The company claims to have battery technology that can enable a car to go 500 miles on a 5-minute plugin to a wall outlet. The key to this higher level of capacitance is in ultra-pure chemicals and rarer (and more expensive) elements, including some form of a ceramic powder coated with aluminum oxide and glass. For a high-level overview of how this technology works, try this funny video.

According to a news piece on cleantech.com, the company has passed some 3rd party verification tests, and Zenn Motor is increasing its investment in the company. Kleiner Perkins is also an investor in the company.

The question remains to be, why it is taking to long to bring a product to market? The patent was granted in 2006, which  means it had to have been filed several years before that. The company doesn’t even appear to have a website yet. It is well-known that rarer materials can produce better levels of capacitance, but they’re really expensive which reduced the ROI of purchasing these vs. other technologies like lithium-ion. Perhaps they are figuring out a way to mass produce the chemicals neccesary in a cost-effective way so that they can take it to the mass market?

Your guess is as good as ours, so please post your guesses in the comments.

Posted by Bryan Menell http://austinstartup.com Bryan is the founder and Editorial Director of AustinStartup.com, which launched in 2005 by Bryan Menell. He is currently the Collaboratory Director at Dachis Group. Bryan advises a handful of early stage companies and is a Managing Director of Capital Factory. To read more posts click here.