ZENN Motor Co drops EVERYTHING to wait for Eestor’s superbattery

Ian Clifford, CEO of ZENN Motor Company, has narrowed the entire focus of his company to a risky proposition with huge potential: Eestor’s ultracapacitor battery. Originally ZENN built small electric cars that could achieve low speeds for city driving, but revenue in that segment must be slim because the company has paused those efforts. Instead, it plans to wait for ultra-private Eestor to furnish a working commercial version of its ultracapacitor battery– supposedly by the end of this year.

So far Eestor has engaged in various third party “confirmations” that its technology is on track, but has provided no hard evidence. The stage is set in a favorable way for Eestor because ultracapacitors are already produced and used with success. The advantage with current ultracapacitors on the market is their ability to quickly charge and discharge equal amounts of energy. So why haven’t we already had a battery revolution?

The answer lies with a basic limitation, ultracapacitors have low energy density, they can only store smaller amounts of energy quickly. That’s the exact problem Eestor is claiming to fix, which hints at just enough reality to make investors frantically interested and engineers scratch their head at the possibilities.

Clifford is candid about the future of his business when he says:

The entire aspect of our business model is dependent on EEStor commercializing that technology. The transformative moment is with the commercial proof, and then the whole tenor of the discussion changes to the excitement about the reality. According to The Star.

He’s absolutely right, if Eestor delivers on its claims. Then he could built out a drivetrain system it calls ZENNergy (similar to what Toyota has done with its hybrid synergy drive) that many car manufacturers would purchase and fit into their production lines.

Clifford cites part of the reason for his company’s shift is the difficulty inherent with being a small time car manufacturer focused on electric vehicles. Other companies like Tesla, Coda, and Fisker face hurdles like infrastructure outlays and distribution networks and he doesn’t want to be boxed in by those restrictions.

Instead, if Clifford’s all-or-nothing bet on Eestor wins out, he’ll be converting all of those competitors into eagerly paying customers.

Thanks to Anonymous for the tip!