A Closer Look at EEStor

A few weeks ago I blogged with baited breath (try saying that three times fast!) about a company called EEStor, whose alleged product could revolutionize the energy industry. From my earlier post:

According to the Energy Blog, the "product" that EEStor is producing weighs 400 lbs and holds 56kwh. 56kwh is enough - even with some pessimistic estimates - to power an electric car for more than 150 miles. More importantly for electric vehicle purposes, the power the product can deliver is astonishing - something like 400 horsepower, according to one estimate.

It gets better. According to a new article in today's Toronto Star, a number of big names are stepping up to take EEStor seriously.

Adding more intrigue to the story is the fact that Colin Powell, the former U.S. secretary of state, joined Kleiner Perkins last summer as a strategic partner. Sources speculate Powell has been briefed on EEStor, which from a government and military perspective could bolster the Bush administration's energy security policy and efforts to break America's "addiction to oil."...

Besides Kleiner's involvement, EEStor has also attracted big names to its five-person board. The Star has learned that Morton Topfer, former vice-chairman of Dell Computer Corp. and widely known as Michael Dell's mentor, has joined the company as a director. Topfer founded and is managing director of Austin-based private equity firm Castletop Capital LP and has close and invaluable ties to big Texas money.

Oh, and finally:

There's a Canadian angle to all of this. Before Kleiner's involvement, EEStor struck a relationship with Toronto-based Feel Good Cars [FGC] that has translated into a $2.5 million (U.S.) licensing agreement.... Ian Clifford, the company's co-founder and CEO, says he has secured exclusive worldwide rights to purchase EEStor's product for use in any vehicle up to 1,200 kilograms, about the size of a Honda Civic.

I'd hope that FGC is paying attention to weight on their next car: if a lightweight car can seat 4 and get 157mpg when it's made of carbon fiber - and come in at less 450kg! - then that 1,200kg "limit" shouldn't be a tough one to stay under. One of EEStor's capacitors is supposed to weigh only about 180kg, after all.

Needless to say, it's encouraging to see that this is being taken seriously. In terms of disruptive technologies, this may do for energy what the Internet did for communications - undermine and reshape the old infrastructure. I'm not fluent enough with the kind of math I'd need, but my bet is that a lightweight car like Loremo's could probably get much better mileage on a full charge than the 150 miles I estimated earlier. 300 miles on a full charge is probably not out of the question.

Whenever FGC announces it's new car, I'll be as close to the front of the line as I can be.

The full article on EEStor in the Star is here.