Evil Dragon

Lead Acid Batteries: How Cheap Beat Cool at Google

Solid science never makes conclusions based on simplified extrapolation of previous dynamics (of a cost or performance). Bubble creating "science" does.
I don't try to apply Moore law to battery production. The production cost reductions would come simply due to mass production volumes. Since acid-lead products are already there, I don't expect their production costs to get any lower. Yet advanced battery technologies haven't reached truly MASS production. LCD technologies killed CRTs not because of Moore's law.
Speaking of automaker, Prius is not such an expensive toy (yet profitable), even taking in consideration that it uses not the best batteries on the market.
Speaking of numbers, by the way, I'm curious how much power is spent by lead-acid for carrying it's own weight ?

Lead Acid Batteries: How Cheap Beat Cool at Google

Everyone chooses in what world he lives. There're mormon communities sticking to a couple hundred years ago lifestyle. I respect that, but it would annoy me if they were byuing TV promotion time to try to convince me to follow their stance.
Frankly, John, your articles annoy me. I know I shouldn't get annoyed, but I am.
I have no problem if you insist on using acid-lead battery powered cell phone or laptop (carrying on these weights is good for health too, who needs a jym ?). But number of articles you published in just couple of month in favor of lead-acid batteries looks to me somewhat agonizing advocacy of must die technologies (althouh the word "technology" doesn't seems to be appropriate here).
You see, in many cases a horse is much more cost efficient technology than a car (dirt cheap production, virtually costless biofuel, etc.), so why don't you get one?
Even better, just sell your acid-lead stocks and pick another subject to spend your talent on.

Lead-Acid, Lead-Carbon Batteries: The Only Option for Average Consumer

Electric/Hybrid vehicles battery technology is expensive just because it is in its early stages of development. I still remember articles from just a few years ago claiming that LCD displays would never go mainstream because of the high production costs. I believe that those publications were encouraged by struggling for survival industries or desperate long CRT investors.
I don't really have a clue as for motivation of Mr. Petersen, but this cost analysis seems to be useless given the assumption that production costs of new types of batteries are going to plunge as volumes are going to grow. (For instance, the production costs of FLASH memory got down about 240 TIMES just in 5 years due to transition to mass production).

I believe that 100 year old technically inferior (albeit cheap) and toxic technology of LEAD and ACID must die just as CRT display technology have.

In this economically turbulent times, a bitter battles are going to be over Obama's alternative/green energy stimulus budgets. Mr. Petersen's publications (two in a single week) seem to be shots in these battles.

Question Marks at Valence Technology

There's no answer on reasonable price. Price always contains some kind of expectations. From my perspective the following has to be taken into consideration:
* the number of all-electric and hybrid cars (or say vehicles) is going to increase exponentially over the next decade, because of increasing oil prices and global warming prevention stimulae
* the market of batteries emerging now and there're no so many playes in it
* Valence has very good battery technology (high capacity, longer duration, ecologically clean, thermally stable, microcontroller manageable)
* even by relatively conservative estimation, Valence is capable to grab battery market share of hundreds of millions dollars a year. Given projected margins of 20-30%, it brings us to 100-200 M$ of profit in few (may be even a couple of) years.
This means that in relatively near future it stocks' market share should reach a 2-4 B$, i.e. stock price of 30-40$.

Question Marks at Valence Technology

This article reminds me my investment in Akamai. I accumulated the stock when it was 0.9$. And boy, how many "experts" explained that this stock isn't worth even that money. When the price reached 10$ they went mad shouting that this is a scammers etc. And the it went 30$ and 50% ( 5000% ). I sold it at 17, by the way.
So keep wining, I'll keep doing money.
Valence has good technology (award winning) that at the moment is penetrating the market. Talk to you in couple of years.