ZAP Announces Orders of $4.98 Million for SMART Car
ZAP (ZAPZ) announced it has received a second 100-unit wholesale purchase order for the SMART Car, bringing the total in wholesale fleet orders in hand to $4.98 million. ZAP is in discussion with a number of government and corporate fleets as well as automotive wholesale dealers for purchase orders of 100 or more cars by December 31, 2004. ZAP unveiled the SMART Car to U.S. consumers in November at the San Francisco International Auto Show, announcing that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a Letter of Conformity. This regulatory approval clears the way for ZAP to begin...
HydroPhi: Turbocharging Trucks With Hydrogen
by Debra Fiakas CFA Casting about for alternatives to burning fossil fuels for energy, hydrogen is a logical candidate. It is the most abundant chemical on the planet and the energy density of compressed hydrogen is about 5.6 milli-joules per liter. This compares to 32.4 mj/l for gasoline and 4.3 mj/l for a lithium ion battery. That is where the romance ends and the realities of hydrogen begin. Hydrogen poses a safety risks, particularly in transportation and distribution. Hydrogen gas leaking into the air may spontaneously ignite. Extremely low temperatures will turn it into a liquid, but that...
FedEx Expands Low Emission Vehicle Program to New York
The FedEx OptiFleet E700 hybrid electric vehicles began delivering packages on routes in the New York metropolitan area following an agreement with NYSERDA to demonstrate the viability of lower-emission hybrid powertrains in heavy-duty vehicles. The roll out took place today at a FedEx facility on 48th Street and 12th Avenue in Manhattan. "New York City is a dynamic economy with many trucks on its streets essential to keep commerce moving, so it is important that we continue to develop innovative solutions to reduce vehicle emissions," said John Formisano, Vice President of Global Vehicles, FedEx Express. "Today's roll-out not...
Arotech’s Electric Fuel Joins International Zinc Consortium with Focus on Electric Vehicles for 2008...
Arotech Corporation (ARTX) announced today that its Electric Fuel subsidiary is one of the founders of the recently formed Zinc Energy Storage Technology (ZEST) Consortium. Launched in March 2005, the Consortium's declared aim is to enable the market for zinc-energy storage technology to realize its full potential. The Consortium will initially focus on the electric vehicle market in Asia. In preparation for the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, which China in its successful bid to the International Olympic Committee declared would be a "Green Olympics," China has committed to employing 1,000 environmentally clean buses for transportation of...
Geneva Motor Show Highlights – The Revenge of the Internal Combustion Engine
John Petersen March is Motor Show time in Geneva and it was fascinating to witness the shift in emphasis away from plug-in vehicles as European automakers highlighted their accomplishments in fuel efficiency technologies like HEVs, micro-hybrids and dual fuel drivetrains that can switch back and forth between gasoline and compressed natural gas. While there were modest displays for Tesla (TSLA), Fisker and other emerging brick-makers, and space was set aside for the obligatory plug-ins that most real manufacturers are toying with, the substantial majority of front-line vehicles at display entrances and halo cars on turntables were HEVs...
Toyota’s Asset Backed Green Bond: This Is Big
Sean Kidney Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM) will close mid-next week on what will be the world’s first green bond backed by auto loans – electric vehicle and hybrid car loans to be specific. And what a kickstart for that market, at $1.75 billion. According to a report in International Financing Review (IFR), the bond will be in multiple tranches, each at a different ratings level: A2 tranche, A3 and A4 (Moody’s ratings). First thing to know: they told the media a week ago it would be a US$774.675 million bond. Rumour has it that initial investor interest...
Newsweek Special Report
"Experts generally agree that our current reliance on fossil fuels is unsustainable. Already oil is near $50 per barrel, and the great millions of Chinese and Indians destined to take to the road in the next decades have not yet gotten behind the wheel." This week Newsweek has written several special reports about alternative energy in all its forms. All of these reports can be found at the following link.
Tesla Vs. Hydrogen
By Jeff Siegel One of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's dreams may soon be coming to fruition. During his time as governor, while singing the praises of renewable energy progress in the Golden State, the Terminator would often tell tree-hugging Californians about his dream of building a hydrogen highway that would enable hydrogen-powered vehicles to run from Mexico to Canada via California. Not only did Prius drivers and vegans applaud the governor's dream, but it even got a decent amount of support from former GM Chairman Bob Lutz and President George W. Bush. Since that time, California has managed to build...
ZAP Invests in Advanced Battery Manufacturing Company in China
ZAP (ZAPZ) announced that it has taken an equity position in Zibo Enterprises Co. Ltd., a manufacturer of advanced battery technology in The People's Republic of China. Steve Schneider, Chief Executive Officer for ZAP, says that the announcement is the next step in the Company's business plans to establish a ZAP Energy Division. Schneider says the synergy between advanced automotive and energy technology has prompted ZAP to expand and departmentalize to focus on these respective markets.
Rapidly Growing Alternative Energy Companies
The last post highlighted several companies in the alternative energy, conservation and environment technology fields that have delivered exceptional price performance over the last year. Prospects for growth in sales or earnings appeared to be key drivers of the price movement. It makes sense to seek indicators of growth as cues for those companies that may become tomorrow’s price movers.
Crystal Equity Research’s novel alternative energy indices were a good place to go on a ‘quest for growth.’
Beach Boys Index - Biodiesel
The two analysts who publish estimates for Renewable Energy Group (REGI: Nasdaq)apparently expect a surge in growth in the current year followed by a leveling...
Automotive Batteries, Short-term Revenue Growth Favors Lead-acid By 6 To 1
Last week, an article in Green Car Congress summarized a market forecast that Dr. Menahem Anderman presented at this month's Advanced Automotive Battery Conference in Long Beach, California. In his presentation, Dr. Anderman evaluated the market for HEVs in 2011, projected a $1,230 million market for automotive NiMH batteries, and projected a $320 million market for automotive Li-ion batteries. The following graph comes from Green Car Congress, is based on data from Dr. Anderman's AABC presentation, and shows both unit sales and market value of the Li-ion batteries that will be used in HEVs by 2011 (click on the...
The Best Peak Oil Investments, Part III: Natural Gas Vehicles
Tom Konrad CFA There are many proposed solutions to the liquid fuels scarcity caused be 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 third part looks at the possibility of displacing gasoline with natural gas, by converting vehicles to natural gas. In Part II of this series, I listed five potential substitutes that have been proposed to replace oil as limited supply and growth in developing markets draw oil away from traditional users. These were:...
Lithium Ion Batteries And GEVs Are Faith-based Cures for Oil Addiction
John Petersen Last Tuesday a reader sent me a copy of "Ending the ICE Age," a new industry overview from Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Milunovich on the future of plug-in vehicles, which the newly organized Electrification Coalition has christened grid enabled vehicles, or GEVs. After spending several hours studying the report I concluded that Mr. Milunovich has found the true religion of the new millennium while I'm still an unwashed pagan, or worse yet a heretic. The grim reality is that when you look at American energy policy as a faith-based initiative,...
Toyota to Double Hybrid Allocation to U.S.
Toyota Motor Corp., Japan's top automaker, said Thursday it will double the allocation of Prius hybrid cars for the U.S. market in 2005, part of a companywide goal to sell 300,000 gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles worldwide by the end of next year. Toyota said the announcement coincides with the sale of its 100,000th Prius in the United States, where they went on sale in the summer of 2000.
Battery Investing for Beginners: Index
John Petersen wrote a series of popular articles last week to introduce new investors to the battery sector, following the A123 IPO. We've had a couple requests from readers who missed one part or another, so here is a quick index to the articles. Part I - Battery industry overview. Parrt II - Comparison of energy storage technologies and companies. Part III - Benchmarking Performance of battery stocks Part IV - Debunking misconceptions about electric vehicles and battery technology.
