Lexus Exceeds 9,000 Pre-Sold Customer Orders for 2006 RX 400h Hybrid
Lexus announced today that its dealers have received more than 9,000 pre-sold orders for the 2006 RX 400h luxury gas-electric hybrid SUV through August month-end. The RX 400h provides a powerful new performance dimension to the traditional hybrid advantages of high mileage and low emissions.
MiX Telematics: Fleet Efficiency, Saftey And Security At An African Discount
by Jan Schalkwijk, CFA In a recent article I wrote about the tech sector in Africa, I mentioned a South Africa company called MiX Telematics Ltd (NYSE:MIXT). There is a dearth of investable tech names in Africa and the worry is that investors would have to stretch to gain exposure to African tech. With this company, no stretching is necessary and it thus provides exposure to the African technology sector without comprising on value or quality. MiX Telematics is a company that provides fleet and mobile asset management solutions, delivered through the Software-as-a-Service "SaaS" model. The company seeks...
Saviors and Saboteurs in Alternative Energy
John Petersen Last week Societe Generale published a thematic research report titled "A new world order, when demand overtakes supply" which examines the macro-economic and demographic trends that will transform the global economy over the next 20 years. It mirrored the theme of Jeremy Grantham's April 2011 quarterly letter titled "Time to Wake Up: Days of Abundant Resources and Falling Prices Are Over Forever" and did a great job of summarizing an issue I touched on in "How PHEVs and EVs Will Sabotage America's Drive For Energy Independence." In the words of Societe Generale: "So, while...
How Hybrid Cars Work
You can learn about Hybrid Cars at the excellent How Stuff Works website using the following link: How Hybrid Cars Work.
Westport Fuels Natural Gas Conversion
Earlier this week Westport Fuel (WPRT: Nasdaq) reported financial results for the quarter ending September 2018. Based on British Columbia, Westport is a developer and manufacturer of clean fuel systems for both fossil and renewable fuel sources. It has taken some years, but Westport management has worked hard and overcome a number of obstacles to bring a mix of engines and systems capable of handling various fuels such as natural gas, hydrogen and liquid petroleum gas.
Revenue jumped to $65.5 million in the September 2018, quarter delivering $4.3 million in cash earnings. The company’s relationship with truck engine manufacturer Cummins (CMI: NYSE) is proving to be...
Why You Should Not Join a Portec Rail Products (PRPX) Class Action Lawsuit
Tom Konrad, CFA Portec Rail Products (PRPX) agreed to be acquired by L. B. Foster Company (FSTR) on February 17. At least four law firms have started class action suits against the Portec board. Here is why not to join any of them. Portec Rail Products has been a longtime favorite of mine. It's profitable, and delivers valuable services to the rail and rail transit industries. This article goes into a lot more detail as to why I like Portec. In large part because of the acquisition, Portec is the best performing of my Ten Clean Energy...
Storm Warnings For Lithium-ion Batteries and Electric Vehicles
John Petersen Before moving to Switzerland in 1998 I lived and worked in Houston, Texas, a place that teaches you the importance of keeping an eye on long-term weather forecasts, particularly during hurricane season. Most of the time it turns out to be wasted effort because Mother Nature is fickle and highly unpredictable, but when it's important it's really important. The same logic holds for investments in energy storage and electric vehicle technologies. You have to keep a close eye on the industrial and regulatory climate and be ready to change your plans when conditions change. For...
The Best Peak Oil Investments, Part II: Hydrogen and Vehicle Electrification
Tom Konrad CFA There are many proposed solutions to the liquid fuels scarcity caused by stagnating (and eventually falling) oil supplies combined with growing demand in emerging economies. Some will be good investments, others won't. Here is where I'm putting my money, and why. This second part looks at hydrogen and electrification strategies for replacing oil. In Part I of this series, I listed four potential substitutes that have been proposed to replace oil as limited supply and growth in developing markets draw oil away from traditional users. I've since added a fifth to my list...
Will Chronic Traffic Problems Slow Down Chinese Car Ownership?
Eamon Keane Following the worst traffic jam in history this past August, Beijing has introduced significant curbs on cars. New car registrations will be slashed 70% to 240,000. Non-registered cars must have a permit and cannot travel at peak hours (7-9am and 5-8pm). With 4.7m cars and a population of 22m, Beijing only has approximately 200 cars per 1,000 people. This is just half the level of cars in Mexico city with which Beijing is tied in IBM's "Commuter Pain Index". If you think LA is bad, Beijing is 4 times worse: When rumours...
Energy Storage: Q-2 2012 Review and Analysis
John Petersen While I jumped the gun last week and published my third quarter outlook for the energy storage and vehicle electrification sectors early, it's worthwhile to take a look back and see how my tracking list of companies performed over the last quarter and examine the past to see what the tea leaves in the bottom of the cup portend for the coming quarter. So without further delay I'll present my price performance table for the second quarter that ended on Friday. Q-2 was a dreadful quarter for Maxwell Technologies (MXWL) and ZBB Energy...
The Best Peak Oil Investments: Six More Electric Vehicle and Hybrid Electric Stocks
Tom Konrad CFA My Ten Electric Vehicle (EV) Stocks article drew considerable attention and comments, including suggestions for stocks that did not make the ten. Here are my takes on the EV stocks suggested by readers. All of these companies do have something to do with electric vehicles (EVs) or hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), but many were omitted from the original list because EV and HEV exposure was quite small as a fraction of total revenue. This matters because, even when a small segment of a company is growing rapidly, it can have very little effect on...
BMW Steam Hybrid Car
BMW is unveiling its turbosteamer hybrid engine, which uses the excess heat in the exhaust system and reclaims 80% of it by powering a steam engine that assists the gas engine. Overall, this gives a 15% more efficient engine; and significant additional performance (power and torque) with practically no downside. (via /.)
Shareholders Cry Foul as UQM Agrees to Buyout
UQM Technologies (UQM: NYSE) has agreed to be acquired by Danfoss Power Solutions for $1.71 per share in cash, providing a deal value near $100 million. UQM leadership expects timely review by government authorities and has recommended approval of the deal by shareholders. A date has not been set for the required shareholder vote. Assuming all goes according to schedule, a deal closing is possible sometime in the second quarter 2019.
Electric propulsion and generation technologies are at the core of UQM’s solutions for manufacturing, transportation and power industries. The substitution of electric motors for combustion engines has been driving demand for the UQM’s products. Market opportunities have abounded...
Chrysler hybrids planned
DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX) may sell gasoline-electric cars and trucks to U.S. consumers as early as 2006, adding another fuel-efficient option to its main strategy of diesel-powered vehicles. Chrysler, the maker of Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler brand cars and trucks, is studying whether to add gasoline-electric hybrid versions of some of its vehicles, according to Chrysler Group CEO Dieter Zetsche. He didn't say which models. Chrysler already plans to sell 100 diesel-electric Dodge Ram pickup trucks to fleet customers later this year.
Who Killed the Electric Bus?
In the last Technology Quarterly, The Economist had a story about the electric busses in 1907 London. As they tell it, the electric bus had a real chance to beat out the internal combustion engine, and the company only failed because of fraud. The electric technology was in many ways superior to the internal combustion engines which eventually won out. In fact, many people at the time still considered the horse to be the far superior technology. These days, the battle is still between the same three fuels: Electric, Petroleum, and biomass (grass and oats for the...
Wind-Rail Convergence?
Taking a study break, I happened to see an article in the Denver Post bringing together two of my favorite clean energy themes: Efficient transport, and wind power. Rail transport has become essential to delivering windpower across the country. The full article is here: Rolling With the Wind.
