Old Wizard

Battery Investing for Beginners, Part 2

John, The subsequent comments stenghten my assertion, I think, that China and Asia will lead in the lithium battrery race. The subsequent comments raise the environmental and raw material issues to a more formidable level than what I asserted and indirectly bring in the cost of labor as well. This is part of the reason I believe that our Government is ignoring the reality of their push to phev's, and that their investment strategy is muddled at best. It would be just another Government blunder if the deficit spending was not so great, but at worst it can be disasterous for the future well-being of our country.

Battery Investing for Beginners, Part 2

John, Thanks for the comprehensive article. I have profited from your articles in that I have a much greater appreciation of the whole energy storage evolution. I will disagree with your conclusion that the Chinese battery companies will not play a big part in our world. It is a fact that both GM and Ford are either negotiating with or have chosen asian battery makers over those in the US. Isn't it a familiar story that we invent, often start production domestically and when the product takes hold, the production goes off-shore, usually to asia or other low cost labor places where environmental and other regulations are not so stringent. As a case in point, First Solar's large production expansion has been in Malasia and off-shore. It's latest large contract is in China and the statement from the company spokesman was that such a project would not be possible in the USA because of the difficulty in tranmission and linkage to the grid.

Obama Announces List of Grant Recipients, Recognizing Significance of Hybrid Markets

John, through my own sources, I was reminded that GE has a big investment in A123. As your table reveals, A123 received one of the largest grants from the Government's 2.5b program. Since A123 is probably going to have an IPO soon, it appears that GE will stand to gain a substantial return from its investment. Further, it is also true that the head of American Superconductor was a former principal in A123 and this firm is also a possible recipient of a Gov. grant. I have not verified whether GE has an interest in AM. SUP.. You are right about the political climate, but did not comment on the Buffet point. On the above, a jaundiced observer might conclude that it pays to back the winner politically, especially when the winner has the power to make such large investments in your business' well being.

Obama Announces List of Grant Recipients, Recognizing Significance of Hybrid Markets

John, I didn't see GE in the list. Did they not get money for their new hi-powered battery initiative? On another subject, The natural gas for fuel bill that is wending its way through congress has been allocated 30m. It would seem to me that a balanced energy plan that really deals both with our critical economic and jobs problem would be more balanced. The investment in battery technology is driving toward an electric vehicle solution that will have a major impact in possibly ten years while that which can impact the country in the near term is hardly addressed. Let's look at the numbers, 3 billion for the CAC program that might save 6 to 9m/gallon on 675k cars whereas converting roughly a million vehicles to natural gas fuel for the same money would save2 to 4 times the amount of oil and have a greater immediate impact on jobs and the country's current account. Further, I believe that this battery money is still a buck shot approach that is not likely to converge as quickly and with the focus of Chinese competitors whose investment in equivalent man hours dwarfs the USA'S . Warren Buffet's alone in the Chinese company shows this to be true.