Douglas Korthof

Better Lithium-Ion Battery Plays than A123 Systems

I wouldn't buy Aone with YOUR money. It's got over 100 million shares, has about 2 years left of cash from the bailout (oops, meant IPO) at the indicated present rate of cash burn, and an unrealistic business plan. It's got to get a few cars on the road, in addition to the 100 plug-in-prii, that make it some money. The power tool market so far doesn't seem to generate any profits, and that's where the bulk of Aone revenue has been coming from according to the filing.

But who knows, hype may prevail. Remember all those sky-high fuel cell cars that Ford, GM and other car companies handed money to? Where's Plug Power, Ballard, etc., now??

America Must Rebuild Domestic Battery Manufacturing Infrastructure

Your numbers are <b>WAY</b> off. Battery packs for EVs are measured in kWh, and their cost in dollars per kWh.
You need 25 kWh to go 100 miles (150 in aerodynamic EVs), they must be deep cycling, and have a long cycle life.
Battery prices have been coming down; in 2000, at their high point, CARB estimated that the cost of a battery pack for an EV would be no more than $13,000 in limited production, and no more than $7000 in mass production. That translates to $300 to $600 per kWh of capacity.

Your figure of $25K to $50K comes from the enemies of EVs, like GM, who lie and make up false numbers. Even Toyota lies about this, because they don't want to allow ANY EVs, people grow to love them, and Toyota wouldn't be able to sell oil-fired cars. As for GM, it's just accustomed to lying and arresting its own customers, now, their shareholders are paying the price.

In fact, Lithium batteries in mass production are currently less than $300/kWh, and, except for the fact that Chevron is squatting on the battery patents for NiMH, NiMH would be even less, and it's the cheapest in terms of life-cycle cost. Lead acid, the next cheapest battery technology in terms of life-cycle cost, is about $50/kWh.

So why rely on the liars and crooks for your numbers?? They are proven failures, if you look at GM, imagine, a vast American company run into the ground by white-collar failures who blame the line workers for their failure to sell product to their customers. Well, GM drove us to Toyota, by seizing our cars instead of taking our money. Why listen to liars??

"...battery prices will be a critical market driver in the case of an HEV that needs a $5,000 to $10,000 battery pack or an electric car that needs a $25,000 to $50,000 battery pack..."