Geoffrey Ballard - American Energizer

American Energizer

One of the studies he had been involved in at the Conservation Research office was on electric cars powered by conventional lead-acid batteries. None of these struck him as practical, but he was convinced that electric traction was the future. He told Discover Magazine in a 2002 interview that "My goal from the very beginning was replacing the internal combustion engine -- just getting that off the streets." Ballard had earlier met Ralph Schwartz in Arizona, who introduced him to the idea of using lithium batteries in place of lead-acid, as they would be much lighter. However, at the time, lithium batteries were not able to be recharged. Schwartz convinced Ballard that they should study the problem, and Ballard cashed in his pension to buy a portion of their new joint venture, American Energizer.

Schwartz and Ballard were introduced to Keith Prater at the University of Texas chemistry department, and sold him on the idea of developing a new rechargeable lithium battery technology with them. Prater was able to quickly determine that that no one knew what the product of the lithium-salt reactions in existing batteries were, and guessed that it was lithium dithionite, which he was able to synthesize. Working in a trailer, Ballard and Schwartz built a simple battery and Prater brought a sample of the lithium dithionite, and when they were placed together and charged, a weak current was produced. After further development the system was able to be recharged about a dozen times.

With the technology looking like it could be made into a commercial enterprise, Ballard contacted an acquaintance, John Horton, to provide further backing. Horton was in the process of re-fitting a small submarine in North Vancouver for oil exploration, and Ballard convinced him that their new battery would be a perfect fit. Horton agreed to provide several thousand dollars a month in funding. With this in place, Ballard purchased an abandoned motel in Arizona for $2,000 and set about turning it into a lab.

By 1977 the batteries were coming along, and Ballard and Prater were shuttling back and forth between Arizona and Vancouver. Ballard had always wanted to return to Canada, so Schwartz sold his interest in the battery technology to Ballard for $1, while Ballard sold his interest in Schwartz's latest venture, a mechanical anti-lock braking system for the same $1. In 1979 Ballard moved to Vancouver and became president and CEO of Ultra Energy.

In Canada, Ultra Energy operated out of the same hangar where Horton was re-fitting his submarine. By the mid-1970s the refit was complete, with no battery in site, and Horton dropped his support for the battery project. After obtaining some private bridge financing, they won a contract for a non-rechargeable lithium battery with a shelf life of 10 years for the fire detector company, Firenetics. After about a year the battery was ready and production was going to be started in Hong Kong, when, to Ultra's surprise, Firenetics filed for bankruptcy after a long lawsuit with General Electric. Ultra Energy was insolvent.