M2E Power has reportedly received a total of $8 million in funding from a group of venture capital outlets including: OVP Venture Partners, Highway 12 Ventures, @Ventures, the CMGI Inc. (NASDAQ: CMGID) clean technology venture unit, and various angel investors. The first round capital funding, it is said, is to be put to work developing "no battery" power sources in mobile devices for military applications with the long-term focus being on civilian applications such as for iPods, cell phones and cameras.
Business Wire reports that M2E, in partnership with General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD), has filed six patents on technology exploiting the Faraday Principle, which involves creating electricity by passing magnets through coils. The reader may wish to note that his principle of electromagnetic induction was proven viable in 1831. Rob Day, principal at @Ventures stated, "They've reached the stage where they've proven this really does work. Prototypes are in actual D-cell or A-cell batteries." You may read about some of the details at AOL Money and Finance.
For the time being, it is expected that the Faraday-based, battery-free power sources will have a price point approximately 20 percent higher than conventional rechargeable batteries. There is much speculation as to whether consumers would be willing to pay that premium to free themselves from changing and recharging batteries. I say, in light of the green day dawning, consumers will happily pay a few extra dollars when purchasing the sources to power their electronic gadgets in order to make themselves that little bit more independent of the grid. Kudos to M2E and General Dynamics for bringing this technology forward.
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