Jan 29, 2011

Carbon-Fluoride Batteries Busted or Brilliant?

Is CFX (now, Contour Energy Systems) more of the same?

In 2008, Yazami and Grubbs raised funds to commercialize the carbon-fluoride battery technology from venture capital firms, including CMEA Capital and Harris & Harris. They founded CFX Battery, a start-up company based in Azsua, Calif. Only a few months after being founded, Frost & Sullivan gave CFX Battery the "North American Emerging Company of the Year" award for 2008. HTML clipboardhttp://www.greentechmedia.com/content/images/articles/flourine-battery.jpg

"The difference between CFX Battery and other start-up battery companies/alternative energy storage developers is that CFX advanced an established battery chemistry into a primary and rechargeable power system that offers cost, performance, and safety benefits in a single solution," said Sara Bradford, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan, in a pre-release announcing the award. "CFX Battery is able to provide a truly disruptive battery chemistry with the ability to be highly flexible in both the manufacturing process as well as user requirements."

Three years later, CFX Battery has been reorganized into Contour Energy Systems and the world is still waiting for the promised "revolution" in the field of energy storage. Other start-up companies like Texas-based EEStor have also claimed to crack the energy-storage code and failed – at least to date – to corroborate those claims by pushing compelling products and applications into the marketplace.

It would be strange if this were the case. Let's hope it isn't.

Read more at forbes