ultracapacitors

Engineered carbon gives batteries, ultracaps a boost

To build a better energy storage device, startup EnerG2 is making better carbon.

The company today flipped the switch on a factory in Albany, Ore., that will turn out a resin used in the manufacture of batteries and ultracapacitors. Its engineered carbon material improves the performance of existing energy storage devices, promising lower prices for hybrid vehicles or grid storage.

The first customers for EnerG2's product are ultracapacitor makers who can expect 25 percent to 30 percent better energy storage capacity, said company COO and CFO Chris Wheaton. Lithium ion and lead acid batteries can get a three times … Read more

GE, NRG venture buys into ultracapacitor storage

Ultracapacitor maker Ioxus today said it has raised $21 million from a handful of large industrial companies, a vote of confidence in this relatively young energy-storage technology.

The lead investor was Energy Technology Ventures, a joint venture of General Electric, utility NRG Energy, and fuel company ConocoPhillips. Another investment group involved was Aster Capital, which represents transportation and power companies Alstom, Schneider Electric, and Rhodia.

The series B round will be used for product development, for sales, and to ramp up the company's manufacturing facility in Oneonta, N.Y., Ioxus CEO Mark McGough said today. These "strategic partner&… Read more

DARPA awards $1.7M for ultracap energy storage

Maxwell Technologies has won a $1.7 million contract from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to develop an ultracapacity energy-storage device for powering portable electronics for the military, the company announced today.

Under the DARPA contract, Maxwell will work with researchers from the University of Massachusetts and the U.S. Navy to create a hybrid ultracap, a device that can act as a "capacity module, advanced battery pack and power management electronics" tool yet be light and small enough to be easily transported by soldiers in the field.

The device also must be extremely long-lasting, … Read more

Hybrid storage melds battery, ultracapacitor

In the geeky world of energy storage, there are well-understood limitations to plain old batteries and to ultracapacitors, devices able to store relatively little energy but also deliver big bursts of power.

Energy storage company Ioxus on Monday plans to announce a hybrid storage device that combines the attributes of an ultracapacitor with a lithium-ion battery. In the first quarter of next year, it plans to make available a second generation of the device, which could potentially be used in auto applications, according to Ioxus CEO Mark McGough.

Its first hybrid will store more than twice the energy of traditional … Read more

EnerG2 ultracapacitor plant eyes auto, grid storage

Start-up EnerG2 on Tuesday dedicated a plant to manufacture material for ultracapacitors that can be used to store energy in vehicles and on the electricity grid.

The Seattle-based company, which was spun out of the University of Washington, received a $21.3 million Department of Energy grant last year to build the facility in Albany, Ore. The funding, which was given to companies pursuing advanced storage technologies, covered the bulk of the total $28.4 million needed to construct the facility.

EnerG2 does not plan to make the actual storage devices, but instead make a material optimized for ultracapacitors, explained … Read more

Ultracapacitors look to fit into energy storage

Judged by media buzz and venture capital dollars, lithium ion batteries are the name of the game in the emerging field of storage for electric vehicles and the power grid. But there is a cadre of companies pursuing ultracapacitors that can work hand in hand with batteries.

South Korea-based Neescap on Tuesday said that it has raised $9 million in bridge financing to expand production of its ultracapacitors for the transportation, power industry, and consumer electronics markets.

In the U.S., early-stage companies designing the materials and electrolytes for ultracapacitors include Graphene Energy, EnerG2, and Ioxus. Much hyped EEStor, backed … Read more

Zenn boosts stake in EEStor's energy storage

Electric car maker Zenn Motor has increased its investment in EEStor, a stealth company that focuses on energy storage and claims its technology will yield an affordable car-battery pack.

Toronto-based Zenn said Thursday that it has verified previously done tests of EEStor's ultracapacitor technology and that it has invested an additional $700,000 in the company.

As part of its agreement with EEStor, Zenn now has an option to purchase as much as 10 percent of the company--up from 3.8 percent--if EEStor delivers "production-quality" energy-storage devices for small cars.

Zenn now makes its namesake "neighborhood&… Read more

Lockheed signs deal with EEStor

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 … Read more

Topfer, former Dell vice chair, bugs out at EEStor

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 … Read more