EESTor Ready At Last ?  

EEstor's ultracapacitor technology seems to have been on the verge of being released for years now. The Calgary Herald reports that we may not have to wait too much longer to see if it is real - Zenn and the art of electric batteries.

Like other companies selling alternative transportation in an oil-dependent world, Toronto-based Zenn has suddenly become a sexy stock. Its shares have gained 81 per cent over the past three months on the Toronto Venture Exchange despite the fact the company has yet to post a profit.

Thing is, Zenn could soon be much more than sexy. It could be downright disruptive, turning the automotive industry on its head.

Sometime over the next several weeks, a privately held and ultra-secretive company named EEStor Inc., based in Cedar Park, Texas, is expected to release the results of independent third-party testing of its electrical-energy storage unit, which aims to replace the electrochemical batteries we now use in everything from hybrid cars to laptop computers. EEStor says its system, combining battery and ultra-capacitor technology and based on modified barium titanate ceramic powder, could power a car for 400 kilometres with regular performance. It claims the unit would charge in a few minutes and weigh less than 10 per cent of current lead-acid batteries for the same cost.

If it is proven to work, EEStor, and its equity and business partners, including Zenn and U.S. defence contractor Lockheed Martin Corp., will have a technology that could change the transportation industry, with implications for renewable energy and any sector that needs electrical energy storage technology. ...

EEStor has said it expects its technology to be commercially ready within six months. "This is not small potatoes here. If this works, it really changes the transportation sector," says Massimo Fiore, an analyst with Versant Partners in Montreal.