Hybrid Synergy Drive

 

What Is a Hybrid System?

A hybrid system combines different power sources to maximize each one’s strengths, while compensating for the others’ shortcomings. A gasoline-electric hybrid system, for example, combines an internal combustion engine’s high-speed power with the clean efficiency and low-speed torque of an electric motor that never needs to be plugged in.

Are All Hybrids Created Equal?

There are several ways in which electric motors and a gas/petrol engine can be combined.
Toyota perfected the series/parallel or "full" hybrid to deliver the energy-saving benefit of a series hybrid together with the acceleration benefit of a parallel hybrid. Two key technologies — the power split device and sophisticated energy management — make this possible. They constantly optimize the flows of mechanical power and electric power for safe and comfortable vehicle operation at the highest possible efficiency.

The Full Hybrid

Toyota’s unique hybrid system combines an electric motor and a gasoline engine in the most efficient manner. It saves fuel and reduces emissions while giving ample power.
Taking advantage of the electric motors’ low-speed torque at start-off
When the car starts off, Toyota’s hybrid vehicles use only the electric motors, powered by the battery, while the gas/petrol engine remains shut off. A gas/petrol engine cannot produce high torque in the low rpm range, whereas electric motors can – delivering a very responsive and smooth start.

Fuel Cell Technology

The fuel cell vehicle (FCV) is the nearest thing yet to an "ultimate eco-car" that offers solutions to energy and emissions issues.

FCVs are powered by fuel cells, which generate electricity from hydrogen, which is not only environmentally friendly and highly energy-efficient, but can also be produced using a variety of readily available raw materials. Thanks to these characteristics, fuel cell vehicles are ideal for achieving sustainable mobility. Therefore, Toyota is striving to make this vehicle technology widely available as soon as possible.

• Successful startup: -30° Celsius
• Extended cruising range: 830km (JC08 mode) without refueling

At a steady cruising speed, the motor is powered by energy from the fuel cell. When more power is needed, for example during sudden acceleration, the battery supplements the fuel cell’s output. Conversely, at low speeds when less power is required, the vehicle runs on battery power alone. During deceleration the motor functions as an electric generator to capture braking energy, which is stored in the battery.

Air Car Is Heading For Mass Production

The Air Car is the brainchild of Guy Negre, a French inventor and former Formula One engineer. In February, Negre’s company, Motor Development International (MDI), announced a deal to manufacture the technology with Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial automaker and a major player worldwide. “It’s an innovative technology, it’s an environment-friendly technology, and a scalable technology, ” says Tata spokesperson Debasis Ray. “It can be used in cars, in commercial vehicles, and in power generation. ”

Though Negre first unveiled the technology in the early 1990s, interest has only recently grown. In addition to the Tata deal, which could put thousands of the cars on the road in India by the end of the decade, Negre has signed deals to bring the design to twelve other countries, including South Africa, Israel, and Germany. But experts say the car may never make it to US streets.

The Air Car works similarly to electric cars, but rather than storing electrical energy in a huge, heavy battery, the vehicle converts energy into air pressure and stores it in a tank. According to MDI’s Miguel Celades, Negre’s engine uses compressed air stored at a pressure of 300 bars to pump the pistons, providing a range of around 60 miles per tank at highway speeds. An onboard air compressor can be plugged into a regular outlet at home to recharge the tank in about four hours, or an industrial compressor capable of 3,500 psi (likes those found in scuba shops) can fill it up in a few minutes for around two dollars. Celades says optional gasoline or biofuel hybrid models will heat the pressurized air, increasing the volume available for the pistons and allowing the car to drive for nearly 500 miles between air refills and about 160 miles per gallon of fuel burned.

Early media reports speculated that Tata could have an Air Car on the market by the end of 2008, but Ray says it’s likely to be a couple of years before the technology is available. Until the Indian models hit the streets, the best way to see an Air Car in action is to cross the pond and check out Negre’s prototypes in France- a trip entrepreneur J. P. Maeder says is worthwhile. “It’s not a fantasy, ” he says of the car. “It can make a real impact in how personal transportation will develop from here. ”

In 2003, Maeder formed ZevCat, a Califonia company that aims to bring the Air Car to America. So far, however, he says his plans have stalled for financial reasons: Without enough money to build and crash test prototypes, he can’t demonstrate the technology for investors who might be willing to fund more prototypes.

The car might garner more attention in the US if it makes it to market in India or elsewhere before other burgeoning technologies like plug-in hybrids or fuel-cell electric cars. If that were to happen, compressed air could become the “next big thing” for green-minded drivers, says Larry Rinek, an auto analyst with the international market-research firm Frost and Sullivan. But Rinek questions whether the car will have mass appeal. Another unknown is whether the vehicle could pass crash tests.

“This is an R and D novelty; it’s a curiosity that is nowhere near ready for primetime, ” says Rinek. “It’s unknown and untrusted, particularly here in North America” where, he says, adoption of new technology moves “very slowly. ”

Variable Turbo Chargers Geometry (VTG)

Variable geometry turbochargers (VGTs) are a family of turbochargers, usually designed to allow the effective aspect ratio (sometimes called A/R Ratio) of the turbo to be altered as conditions change. This is done because optimum aspect ratio at low engine speeds is very different from that at high engine speeds. If the aspect ratio is too large, the turbo will fail to create boost at low speeds; if the aspect ratio is too small, the turbo will choke the engine at high speeds, leading to high exhaust manifold pressures, high pumping losses, and ultimately lower power output. By altering the geometry of the turbine housing as the engine accelerates, the turbo’s aspect ratio can be maintained at its optimum. Because of this, VGTs have a minimal amount of lag, have a low boost threshold, and are very efficient at higher engine speeds. VGTs do not require a waste gate.

Most common designs
The two most common implementations include a ring of aerodynamically-shaped vanes in the turbine housing at the turbine inlet. Generally for light duty engines (passenger cars, race cars, and light commercial vehicles) the vanes rotate in unison to vary the gas swirl angle and the cross sectional area. Generally for heavy duty engines the vanes do not rotate, but instead the axial width of the inlet is selectively blocked by an axially sliding wall (either the vanes are selectively covered by a moving slotted shroud, or the vanes selectively move vs a stationary slotted shroud). Either way the area between the tips of the vanes changes, leading to a variable aspect ratio.

Actuation
Often the vanes are controlled by a membrane actuator identical to that of a waste gate, however increasingly electric servo actuation is used. Hydraulic actuators have also been used in some applications.

Main suppliers

Several companies supply the rotating vane type of variable geometry turbocharger, including Garrett (Honeywell), Borg Warner and MHI (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries). The rotating vane design is mostly limited to small engines and/or to light duty applications (passenger cars, race cars and light commercial vehicles). The only supplier of the sliding vane type of variable geometry turbocharger is Cummins Turbo Technologies (Holset), who are effectively the sole supplier of variable geometry turbochargers for applications involving large engines and heavy duty use (i.e. trucks and off highway applications).

Other common uses
In trucks, VG turbochargers are also used to control the ratio of exhaust re-circulated back to the engine inlet (they can be controlled to selectively increase the exhaust manifold pressure exceeds the inlet manifold pressure, which promotes exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)). Although excessive engine back pressure is detrimental to overall fuel economy, ensuring a sufficient EGR rate even during transient events (e.g. gear changes) can be sufficient to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions down to that required by emissions legislation (e.g. Euro 5 for Europe and EPA 10 for the USA).

Another use for the sliding vane type of turbocharger is as downstream engine exhaust brake (non-decompression type), so that an extra exhaust throttle valve isn’t needed. Also the mechanism can be deliberately modified to reduce the turbine efficiency in a predefined position. This mode can be selected to sustain a raised exhaust temperature to promote "light-off" and "regeneration" of a diesel particulate filter (this involves heating the carbon particles stuck in the filter until they oxidize away in a semi-self sustaining reaction – rather like the self-cleaning process some ovens offer). Actuation of a VG turbocharger for EGR flow control or to implement braking or regeneration modes generally requires hydraulic or electric servo actuation.

Turbo-Charger

A turbocharger is actually a type of supercharger. Originally, the turbocharger was called a "turbo super charger." Obviously, the name was shortened out of convenience.

A turbocharger’s purpose is to compress the oxygen entering a car’s engine, increasing the amount of oxygen that enters and thereby increasing the power output. Unlike the belt-driven supercharger that is normally thought of when one hears the word "supercharger," the turbocharger is powered by the car’s own exhaust gases. In other words, a turbocharger takes a by-product of the engine that would otherwise be useless, and uses it to increase the car’s horsepower.

Cars without a turbocharger or supercharger are called normally aspirated. Normally aspirated cars draw air into the engine through an air filter; the air then passes through a meter, which monitors and regulates the amount of air that enters the system. The air is then delivered to the engine’s combustion chambers, along with a controlled amount of fuel from the carburetor or fuel injectors.

In a turbocharged engine, however, the air is compressed so that more oxygen will fit in the combustion chamber, dramatically increasing the burning power of the engine. The turbocharger is composed of two main parts: the compressor, which compresses the air in the intake; and the turbine, which draws the exhaust gases and uses them to power the compressor. Another commonly used term in relation to turbochargers is boost, which refers to the amount of pressure the air in the intake is subjected to; in other words, the more compressed the air is, the higher the boost.

Although the increase in power is advantageous to the car — and likely a source of enjoyment for the driver — a turbocharger has its drawbacks. First and foremost, a turbocharged engine must have a lower compression ratio than a normally aspirated engine. For this reason, one cannot simply put a turbocharger on an engine that was intended for normal aspiration without seriously undermining the life and performance of the engine. Also, a lower compression ratio means the engine will run less efficiently at low power.

Another major drawback of a turbocharger is the phenomenon known as turbo lag. Because the turbocharger runs on exhaust gases, the turbine requires a build-up of exhaust before it can power the compressor; this means that the engine must pick up speed before the turbocharger can kick in. Additionally, the inlet air grows hotter as it is compressed, reducing its density, and thereby its efficiency in the combustion chamber; a radiator-like device called an intercooler is often used to counter this effect in turbocharged engines.

Super Charger

Engines combust (burn) fuel and use the energy of that combustion to do work. The more fuel that is combusted in any given time then the more energy is available to carry out the engines task. Fuel requires air (or the oxygen contained within air) to burn so if there isn’t enough air mixed with the fuel it will not burn. This also means that the amount of air entering an engine determines how much fuel can be burnt and consequently how much energy (or power) an engine can produce. Superchargers are essentially an air pump designed to cram extra air into an engine allowing it to combust more fuel than would otherwise be possible.

Mercedes pioneered automotive superchargers on their race cars during the 1920’s. These were simple reciprocating compressors attached to the engine by an electrically operated clutch. A switch activated by the accelerator pedal turned the pump on when extra power (full throttle) was required. A flurry of engineering endeavor ensued in order to reign in Mercedes advantage on the racetrack. Within a few short years most of the basic designs for modern superchargers had appeared.

During the 1930’s superchargers were largely the preserve of marine engines, aircraft and race vehicles but gradually found their way into commercial diesel engines by the 1950’s. It has been common for truck engines to be turbo supercharged (a.k.a. turbocharged) for decades but car engines originally had difficulty in effectively employing this technology.

Superchargers mostly fall into one of two categories, mechanically driven superchargers and turbo superchargers driven by exhaust gasses. A third category is starting to make an appearance and that is electrically powered superchargers.

Turbo superchargers (a.k.a. turbochargers or turbo’s) are relatively compact, lightweight and efficient but suffer from turbo lag and heat stress. By turbo lag we mean the amount of time it takes for the turbo’s rotor to speed up to full efficiency. Some of the earliest turbo charged vehicles took so long for the turbo to produce a usable amount of boost that they were all but useless. Modern turbo chargers are much better in this regard but turbo lag is still a problem. Heat is another bane of turbo chargers. Exhaust gasses are extremely hot and can cause so much heat to build up in the turbo that oil will burn and congeal within its galleries leading to a bearing failure. This is why many turbo chargers have a turbo timer. The timer will cause an engine to continue idling for a few minutes after it is switched off allowing excess heat to be dissipated.

Mechanically driven superchargers usually don’t suffer from turbo lag and can often produce more boost than an exhaust driven charger (turbo). On the negative side they are generally bulky, heavy, and have a cumbersome drive mechanism (usually belt drive). Furthermore most chargers of this type have to supply air at all engine speeds and loads making them difficult to match various engine conditions precisely.

As our supercharger is electrically driven we have devoted an entire article to the advantages and disadvantages of this type.

Heat exchangers (intercoolers) are frequently used in conjunction with superchargers. Compressing air increases its temperature thus making it less dense. By re-cooling the compressed volume of air before it enters, density is increased allowing even more air to be forced into the engine. Intercoolers are more important for turbo superchargers as there are two heating sources present, the act of compression and heat from exhaust gasses both increase air temperature.

Fuel Cell Car

Fuel Cell Stacks

This is the heart of the hydrogen fuel cell car—the fuel cell stacks. Their maximum output is 86 kilowatts, or about 107 HP. Because hydrogen fuel cell stacks produce power without combustion, they can be up to twice as efficient as internal combustion engines. They also produce zero carbon dioxide and other pollutants. For more information on the stacks.

Fuel Cell Cooling System

This has several parts. Perched at an angle at the front of the vehicle is a large radiator for the fuel cell system, while two radiators for the motor and transmission lie ahead of the front wheels below the headlights. The car also has a cooling pump located near the fuel cell stacks to stabilize temperature within the stacks.

Ultra capacitor

This unit serves as a supplementary power source to the fuel cell stack. Like a large battery, the ultra capacitor recovers and stores energy generated during deceleration and braking. It uses this energy to provide a "power assist" during startup and acceleration.

Hydrogen Tanks

Space in a car is limited, yet hydrogen is the most dispersive element in the universe and normally requires lots of room. A challenge for manufacturers is how to compress the gas into tanks small enough to fit in a compact car and yet still provide enough fuel for hundreds of miles of driving between refueling. The two high-pressure hydrogen tanks in this vehicle can hold up to 3.75 kilograms of hydrogen compressed to roughly 5,000 PSI—enough to enable an EPA-rated 190 miles of driving before refueling, the manufacturer says.

Electric Motor

(General area only—motor not visible) The electric motor offers a maximum output of 80 kilowatts, enabling a top speed of about 93 miles per hour. The manufacturer says this vehicle can also start in subfreezing temperatures (down to about -4°F), a perennial problem in fuel cell prototypes. Being electric, the engine and the car as a whole are quiet, with none of the vibration or exhaust noise of a gas-powered automobile.

Air Pump

(General area only—air pump not visible) Run by a high-voltage electric motor, this pump supplies air at the appropriate pressure and flow rate to the fuel cell stacks. The air, in turn, mixes with the stored hydrogen to create electricity.

Humidifier

The humidifier monitors and maintains the level of humidity that the fuel cell stack needs to achieve peak operating efficiency. It does this by recovering some of the water from the electrochemical reaction that occurs within the fuel cell stack and recycling it for use in humidification.

Power Control Unit

(General area only—power control unit not visible) This controls the vehicle’s electrical systems, including the air and cooling pumps as well as output from the fuel cell stacks, electric motor, and ultra capacitor.

Cabin

With the fuel cell stacks hidden beneath the floor and the hydrogen tanks and the ultra capacitor beneath and behind the rear seats, respectively, the four-passenger cabin is isolated from all hydrogen and high-voltage lines. Hydrogen gas is colorless and odorless, and it burns almost invisibly. In case of a leak, therefore, the manufacturer has placed hydrogen sensors throughout the vehicle to provide warning and automatic gas shut-off. Also, in the event of a collision, the electrical source power line shuts down.

Hydrogen Filler Mouth

(Not visible—located on other side of vehicle) Drivers would fill the car with hydrogen just as they do with gasoline, through an opening on the side of the vehicle. The main difference is that a fuel cell car must be grounded before fueling to rid the car of hazardous static electricity. For this reason, this model has two side-by-side openings, with the latch to open the hydrogen filler mouth located inside the opening for the grounding wire. The manufacturer says filling up this model’s two tanks at a hydrogen filling station would take about three minutes.

Note

The limited-production vehicle seen in this feature is a Honda 2005 FCX, which is typical of the kinds of hydrogen fuel cell automobiles that some major automakers are now researching and developing. With such vehicles at present costing about $1 million apiece, none is currently for sale, though hundreds of fuel cell cars are now undergoing tests on the world’s roads.

Rapid Tooling -RT Prototyping

An Application of Rapid prototyping is Rapid tooling, this an automatic fabrication of machine tools. Tooling is one of the most costly steps in the manufacturing process.

Tools are often complex and need to be wear resistant for production. To meet these requirements, molds and dies are traditionally made by CNC machining, EDM or other methods. All traditional methods are expensive and time consuming; making rapid tooling prototyping the desired alternative. Many believe tooling and design cost may be cut by 50% to 70% by using rapid prototyping.

Rapid tooling is divided in two categories; indirect tooling and direct tooling.

Indirect Tooling

Most rapid tooling today is indirect tooling. Rapid prototyping parts are used as patterns for making molds and dies. These models can be in the following manufacturing processes.

• Investment Casting –

Some rapid prototyping can be used as investment casting patterns. Patterns must retain size when heated and not crack during the finishing process.

• Injection Modeling –

A Stereo lithography machine is used to make a match-plate pattern of the desired molding. To form this mold it is plated with metal material such as nickel; then reinforced with ceramic. The two halves are separated to remove the pattern, leaving a perfect model capable to producing thousands of injection models.

• Sand Casting –

A rapid prototyping model is used as a pattern which sand mold or “casting” is built. (make the following link) Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM) machines can be used for this process. A LOM model can produce nearly 100 sand molds.

• Vacuum Casting –

The oldest and simplest rapid tooling prototyping technique; a pattern is suspended in a vat of liquid silicon. When the material cures, the pattern may be removed. The silicon molds can produce 15 or more patterns.

Direct Tooling

To make metal tooling direct from CAD file through rapid prototyping process; is the answer to every production engineers dream.

• Rapid tool –

A process which uses SLS to sinter  poly- coated steel pellets together to produce metal mold.

• Laser Engineering Net Shaping (LENS) –          

A process that can create metal tools directly from a CAD file. This process is capable of using multiple materials, stainless steel, HSS, tungsten carbide as well as others. A laser beam melts the top layer of the part in areas where material is to be added until the part is complete. Unlike sintering, LENS does produce a solid metal part since the metal was melted.

• Direct AIM –

Another technique provided by 3D Systems of Valencia, Ca. Stereo lithography produced cores are used with traditional metal molds for injection moldings from HDPE, Polystyrene, polypropylene and ABS.

• LOM Composite –

A method of using ceramic composite material for Laminated Object Manufacturing.

• Sand Molding –

A rapid prototyping technique that constructs sand molds directly from a CAD file.

Kinetic Energy Recovery System - KERS

The introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) is one of the most significant technical introductions for the Formula One Race. Formula One have always lived with an environmentally unfriendly image and have lost its relevance to road vehicle technology. This eventually led to the introduction of KERS.

KERS is an energy saving device fitted to the engines to convert some of the waste energy produced during braking into more useful form of energy. The system stores the energy produced under braking in a reservoir and then releases the stored energy under acceleration. The key purpose of the introduction was to significantly improve lap time and help overtaking. KERS is not introduced to improve fuel efficiency or reduce weight of the engine. It is mainly introduced to improve racing performance.

KERS is the brainchild of FIA president Max Mosley. It is a concrete initiative taken by F1 to display eco-friendliness and road relevance of the modern F1 cars. It is a hybrid device that is set to revolutionize the Formula One with environmentally friendly, road relevant, cutting edge technology.

Components of KERS

The three main components of the KERS are as follows:

• An electric motor positioned between the fuel tank and the engine is connected directly to the engine crankshaft to produce additional power.
• High voltage lithium-ion batteries used to store and deliver quick energy.
• A KERS control box monitors the working of the electric motor when charging and releasing energy.

A – Electric motor

B – Electronic Control Unit

C – Battery Pack

Working Principle of KERS

Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems or KERS works on the basic principle of physics that states, “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be endlessly converted.”

When a car is being driven it has kinetic energy and the same energy is converted into heat energy on braking. It is the rotational force of the car that comes to stop in case of braking and at that time some portion of the energy is also wasted. With the introduction of KERS system the same unused energy is stored in the car and when the driver presses the accelerator the stored energy again gets converted to kinetic energy. According to the F1 regulations, the KERS system gives an extra 85 bhp to the F1 cars in less than seven seconds.

This systems take waste energy from the car’s braking process, store it and then reuse it to temporarily boost engine power. This and the following diagram show the typical placement of the main components at the base of the fuel tank, and illustrate the system’s basic functionality – a charging phase and a boost phase. In the charging phase,

kinetic energy from the rear brakes (1)

is captured by an electric alternator/motor (2),

controlled by a central processing unit (CPU) (3),

which then charges the batteries (4).

 

In the boost phase, the electric alternator/motor gives the stored energy back to the engine in a continuous stream when the driver presses a boost button on the steering wheel. This energy equates to around 80 horsepower and may be used for up to 6.6 seconds per lap. The location of the main KERS components at the base of the fuel tank reduces fuel capacity (typically 90-100kg in 2008 ) by around 15kg, enough to influence race strategy, particularly at circuits where it was previously possible to run just one stop. The system also requires additional radiators to cool the batteries. Mechanical KERS, as opposed to the electrical KERS illustrated here, work on the same principle, but use a flywheel to store and re-use the waste energy.

Types of KERS

There are basically two types of KERS system:

Electronic KERS

Electronic KERS supplied by Italian firm Magneti Marelli is a common system used in F1 by Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Ferrari, Renault, and Toyota.

The key challenge faced by this type of KERS system is that the lithium ion battery gets hot and therefore an additional ducting is required in the car. BMW has used super-capacitors instead of batteries to keep the system cool.
With this system when brake is applied to the car a small portion of the rotational force or the kinetic energy is captured by the electric motor mounted at one end of the engine crankshaft. The key function of the electric motor is to charge the batteries under barking and releasing the same energy on acceleration. This electric motor then converts the kinetic energy into electrical energy that is further stored in the high voltage batteries. When the driver presses the accelerator electric energy stored in the batteries is used to drive the car.

Electro-Mechanical KERS

The Electro-Mechanical KERS is invented by Ian Foley. The system is completely based on a carbon flywheel in a vacuum that is linked through a CVT transmission to the differential. With this a huge storage reservoir is able to store the mechanical energy and the system holds the advantage of being independent of the gearbox. The braking energy is used to turn the flywheel and when more energy is required the wheels of the car are coupled up to the spinning flywheel. This gives a boost in power and improves racing performance.

Limitations of KERS

Though KERS is one of the most significant introductions for Formula One it has some limitations when it comes to performance and efficiency. Following are some of the primary limitations of the KERS:

• Only one KERS can be equipped to the existing engine of a car.
• 60 kw is the maximum input and output power of the KERS system.
• The maximum energy released from the KERS in one lap should not exceed 400 kg.
• The energy recovery system is functional only when the car is moving.
• Energy released from the KERS must remain under complete control of the driver.
• The recovery system must be controlled by the same electronic control unit that is used for controlling the engine, transmission, clutch, and differential.
• Continuously variable transmission systems are not permitted for use with the KERS.
• The energy recovery system must connect at one point in the rear wheel drive train.
• If in case the KERS is connected between the differential and the wheel the torque applied to each wheel must be same.
• KERS can only work in cars that are equipped with only one braking system.

Ultra Capacitor - Advanced Battery Storage Technology

For decades, battery storage technology has been a heavy weight on the back of scientific innovation. From cell phones to electric vehicles, our technological capabilities always seem to be several steps ahead of our ability to power them. Several promising new technologies are currently under development to help power the 21st century, but one small start-up looks especially well positioned to transform the way we think about energy storage.

Texas-based EEStor, Inc. is not exactly proposing a new battery, since no chemicals are used in its design. The technology is based on the idea of a solid state ultra capacitor, but cannot be accurately described in these terms either. Ultra capacitors have an advantage over electrochemical batteries (i.e. lithium-ion technology) in that they can absorb and release a charge virtually instantaneously while undergoing virtually no deterioration. Batteries trump ultra capacitors in their ability to store much larger amounts of energy at a given time.

EEStor’s take on the ultra capacitor — called the Electrical Energy Storage Unit, or EESU — combines the best of both worlds. The advance is based on a barium-titanate insulator claimed to increase the specific energy of the unit far beyond that achievable with today’s ultra capacitor technology. It is claimed that this new advance allows for a specific energy of about 280 watts per kilogram — more than double that of the most advanced lithium-ion technology and a whopping ten times that of lead-acid batteries. This could translate into an electric vehicle capable of traveling up to 500 miles on a five minute charge, compared with current battery technology which offers an average 50-100 mile range on an overnight charge. As if that weren’t enough, the company claims they will be able to mass-produce the units at a fraction the cost of traditional batteries.

"It’s a paradigm shift," said Ian Clifford of ZENN Motor Co., an early investor and exclusive rights-holder for use of the technology in electric cars. "The Achilles’ heel to the electric car industry has been energy storage. By all rights, this would make internal combustion engines unnecessary."

But this small electric car company isn’t the only organization banking on the new technology. Lockheed-Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor, has also signed on with EEStor for use of the technology in military applications. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a venture capital investment firm who counts Google and Amazon among their early-stage successes, has also invested heavily in the company.