Follow Green Car Magazine on Twitter
Firefly Energy announced recently that it has signed a $3.3 million contract extension for continuing enhancement of its first two advanced battery technology designs. This funding comes in addition to more than $7 million the company has received to date under its original contract to adapt the company’s next generation microcell foam battery technologies for military applications.
Today’s high-tech military vehicles increasingly depend upon sophisticated electronic devices to accomplish their missions. These devices have incremental energy requirements that severely draw down traditional lead acid batteries. This requirement — along with extreme vibration, varying temperatures and other stress factors inherent to these applications – causes these vehicle batteries to fail prematurely.
Firefly’s breakthrough microcell battery technology enables an extraordinary battery performance in these advanced energy applications by delivering 4-6 times the lifetime energy compared with traditional Valve Regulated Lead Acid (“VRLA”) batteries. Building on Firefly Energy’s current technology design that enables military equipment to utilize batteries for extensive cycling and energy discharges, Firefly Energy will now significantly increase the power and further enhance the available energy in the military “6T” battery case; the 6T is the vehicular battery used across the U.S. and NATO militaries.
This Army contract extension continues development support of Firefly’s “3D” and “3D2″technologies. The 3D technology replaces traditional lead acid battery negative lead metal electrodes with a three dimensional high surface area microcell foam negative electrode, that unleashes the historically unrealized high power potential of lead acid chemistry. Firefly’s second generation 3D2battery technology replaces both negative and positive lead metal electrodes with the microcell foam material, providing the potential to match energy density numbers (energy per unit weight) at a delivered pack level that are currently only realized in less environmentally-friendly (and much more expensive) lithium and nickel chemistries.
“This government funding will allow Firefly to continue optimization of its technologies and respond to critical and evolving military combat vehicle operational requirements, assuring their suitability and exceptional performance for military applications,” said Firefly Energy CEO Edward Williams.
About Firefly Energy ( www.fireflyenergy.com ):
Firefly Energy Inc. (“Firefly”) is a Peoria, Illinois-based battery technology company developing a portfolio of lead-acid battery technologies and products to enhance performance within major portions of the $30 billion worldwide battery marketplace. The company’s first applied technology is a microcell foam-based battery technology, which can deliver a unique combination of high performance, low weight and low cost, all within a battery that unleashes the full power potential of lead acid chemistry while overcoming its performance drawbacks.
Firefly’s battery products and their patented microcell technology deliver to battery markets a level of performance achieved with advanced battery chemistries (Nickel Metal Hydride and Lithium) but at one-fifth the cost. Firefly’s microcell battery products can be manufactured as well as recycled within the existing lead acid battery industry’s vast infrastructure.
Firefly is backed by multibillion dollar product companies such as Caterpillar ( www.cat.com , NYSE: CAT), BAE Systems ( www.baesystems.com ) (London Stock Exchange over the counter symbol: BAESY), and Husqvarna ( www.husqvarna.com , other OTC: HSQVY.PK ). Additional investors include Chicago-area Venture Capital firm KB Partners ( www.kbpartners.com ), Quercus Trust, Khosla Ventures ( www.khoslaventures.com ), Infield Capital, and the Illinois Finance Authority.
What Readers are Saying