EEStor, A123, Altairnano…AND THE WINNER IS…
Firefly Energy Inc. (www.fireflyenergy.com), the Peoria Illinois-based company developing an innovative carbon-graphite foam lead acid battery for commercial and military applications, said today it was named a co-winner in the energy category in 2007’s The Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards.
Talk about darkhorses! Firefly’s carbon-foam technology has received the least publicity of all the new battery technologies - yet the Wall Street Journal selected it as the best energy technology of 2007. From the WSJ article:
Co-winner Firefly Energy Inc., Peoria, Ill., developed a power supply that replaces the heavy lead plates in typical vehicle batteries with a carbon-graphite foam. The result is smaller and lighter — yet can deliver as much power as more advanced and more costly technologies. Though its batteries aren’t yet on the market, Firefly has signed a deal with Sweden’s Husqvarna Group to provide batteries for the outdoor-equipment maker’s planned line of electric lawn mowers and lawn tractors. And in March Firefly received $5 million from the U.S. Army to develop a prototype for possible use in combat vehicles.
Who could have predicted this?
OK, I didn’t predict they would win any awards but I did say they had a better chance of being disruptive.
…Contrast this to the approach of Firefly, who is developing the next generation lead-acid battery. In every aspect, their product fits into the innovation effectiveness model better than EESTOR’s. And since the Firefly battery can enter the market at the low-medium quality use level, they can become disruptive easier.
Firefly has produced a technology that could eliminate traditional lead-acid batteries in a matter of years. They can be used in cars, boats, lawn mowers, trucks…and electric cars. They are lighter and have better energy density - and are cheaper to boot.
Hooray Firefly!
Social Bookmarks:
Comments
3 Responses to “EEStor, A123, Altairnano…AND THE WINNER IS…”
Leave a Reply
Sounds great but new products need to be rated by consumer rating groups. All these products will compete with companies like Johnson Controls. I worked at johnson Controls once in engineering!!!
[...] Posts EEStor, A123, Altairnano…AND THE WINNER IS…Forty Uses For A BrickAbout…IC’s Familiar Quotations on InnovationThey Laughed When I Told Them [...]
[...] EEStor, A123, Altairnano…AND THE WINNER IS… Posted on September 25, 2007 by Innovation Catalyst Open Source Innovation has moved - here is the new link to EEStor, A123, Altairnano…AND THE WINNER IS… [...]