TheEEStory.com

While I would have loved to be there and ask the "Hard Questions" to the likes of KPC&B et. cetera, at least the hard-working blogger Ross Miller was at the eBay reveal of Bloom Energy's Bloom Box event.

Check out the blog and pretend you were there yourself!

Live from the Bloom Box press event

Yes another month has come and gone. A few exciting things happened in Jan. For instance, we learned that last (Fall?) ZENN hired Jane Huang, PMP MBA P.ENG.
http://www.theeestory.com/topics/4854?page=1#p1...

Also, on Jan 18th ZENN Hired Patrick Kinsie to the position of Vice President, Business. Development.http://www.theeestory.com/topics/4794

ZENN set the date for this years AGM, March 24th (Who's going? Someone say hi to Ian and Catherine for me!)

ZENN released financial and MD&A for the previous period.
http://www.theeestory.com/topics/4925

Polarity released info on its website about a 10watt DC DC converter that can drop 3500-850 volts to 5 volts at 10 watts.
http://www.theeestory.com/topics/4775

EEStor got official patent protection for its chemical clarifying process
http://www.TheEEStory.com/topics/4872
(Method of purifying barium nitrate aqueous solution US7648687 B1)

ZENN Motor Company Information to be Available Through Standard & Poor's Market Access Program
http://www.theeestory.com/topics/4543

LightEVS updates their site saying they expect big things in 2010.
http://theeestory.com/topics/4903

Any other NNN happen in Jan? leave a comment and I'll add it to this list.

So think to yourself for a minute... While we didn't get the proverbial "reveal" in 2009, or in Jan 2010, those people at ZENN, EEStor, Lockheed, Polarity and LightEVS are busy like little beavers trying to push this baby out. (Or at least it appears so).

-Bretspot

Read the full document Here:

"2009 was both a challenging year and an exciting year for the Company," stated Ian Clifford, Chief Executive Officer. "There is no question that the economic turmoil had a profound effect on this year's results; unit sales declined and it required increasingly greater incentives to attain what results there were."
"Through all the challenges however, there have been some significant achievements that we believe bode well for the Company. In the year, we had EEStor release their permittivity results which was well received, we were able to raise capital in an extremely unstable and challenging market environment and we increased our equity investment in EEStor," said Clifford.
"We have also refined the focus of our energies and resources where we believe they will optimize shareholder value. To this end, as previously announced, we have decided not to bring the cityZENN to market as a commercial product and to cease production of the ZENN LSV in 2010. Instead, the Company's strategic focus going forward will be on its ZENNergy™technologies and solutions, designed to capitalize on the unique characteristics expected of EEStor's capacitor-based energy storage technology. We are excited about the ZENNergy strategy; it builds on our experience from the cityZENN project and the ZENN LSV and is complementary to many electric vehicle initiatives being undertaken today by OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers in the automotive and specialty vehicle industries."

Original story: EEStor Granted A New Patent: 11/453,581
By "B" The EEStor Blogger

In yet another mystery chapter from the EEStory, we find that EEStor has been granted patent 11/453,581. Originally filed in June 2006, this patent for a METHOD OF PURIFYING BARIUM NITRATE AQUEOUS SOLUTION, had it's patent Issue Notification mailed on Dec 30,2009 and the Patent Grant Mailed on January 19, 2010. At first look, it appears to have stayed under the radar until now.

If you examine the Image File Wrapper, you'll notice some interesting references to arguments made by Carl Walter Nelson. Also, the prosecution of this patent included a telphonic interview with EEStor's representative John Schell. What was discussed? "Applicants believe the step-wise purification provides benefits such as removing strontium while keeping barium in solution."

I predict further nuggets will emerge from this patent. So, if you must, please enjoy your own favorite aqueous solution with a toast to sages, Weir, Nelson & Clifford, praise be their name.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ZENN-Motor-Compan...

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 18, 2010) - ZENN Motor Company Inc. ("ZMC" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:ZNN - News), a leading developer of zero emission transportation solutions and technologies today announced the appointment of Patrick Kinsie to the position of Vice President, Business Development.

Mr. Kinsie brings to ZMC over twenty years of automotive business-to-business experience, including as Vice-President, Sales & Advanced Engineering with Stackpole Limited (now Gates Canada), a leading manufacturer of powertrain components, systems, and assemblies and a member of Tomkins plc. Throughout his career, Mr. Kinsie has distinguished himself with a proven, results-oriented track record that includes international sales to the top global automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM). He holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Waterloo.

"I am thrilled to add someone of Patrick's caliber, expertise and background to the ZMC leadership team," stated Brian Cott, President & COO of the Company. "His experience and contacts align extremely well with our plans for selling ZENNergy(TM)drive technology and solutions to the automotive and specialty vehicle markets by partnering with major OEMs and suppliers globally."

Elaborating on his decision to join the Company, Mr. Kinsie stated "With the industry clearly committed to electric drive solutions, I believe ZENN Motor Company has the opportunity to quickly become a major player and candidly, I wanted to be a member of the ZMC team. I'm excited in the role I will play in helping the Company realize its goals and vision."

About ZENN Motor Company Inc.

ZENN Motor Company, Toronto, Canada, is dedicated to being a global leader in zero emission transportation solutions and technologies for markets around the world. Driven by quality, ingenuity and a philosophy of social responsibility, the ZMC team is redefining what is possible in both urban and business fleet transportation.

ZENNergy(TM) drive solutions, powered by EEStor's electrical energy storage technology are expected to enable OEM and Tier 1 partners to deliver advanced electric transportation solutions to their customers. The Company has a Technology Agreement that provides certain exclusive and non-exclusive rights to purchase and deploy EEStor's EESU technology as follows (all of which apply to 4-wheeled vehicles using electricity as energy for the vehicle's propulsion system):

-- Exclusive rights for new passenger vehicles with a curb weight of up to
1,400 kilograms, net of battery weight (this does not include vehicles
that are classified as Sport Utility Vehicles, Pickups, Trucks, Trams,
Buses and certain high-performance sports cars with electric drive
systems of 100 continuous kilowatts or higher);
-- Exclusive rights for neighbourhood electric vehicles (NEV) and golf
carts operating at a maximum speed of thirty (30) miles per hour and;
-- Exclusive rights for utility vehicles having a maximum propulsion system
of 15 continuous kilowatts or a curb weight of up to 1400 kilograms, net
of battery weight (this does not include vehicles that are classified as
Sport Utility Vehicles, Pickups, Trucks, Trams, Buses and certain high-
performance sports cars with electric drive systems of 100 continuous
kilowatts or higher);
-- Exclusive rights for the aftermarket conversion to ZENNergy(TM) drive of
any 4-wheeled vehicles currently using internal combustion, electricity
or a combination thereof for the vehicle's propulsion system, and which
have been previously licensed for road use for greater than twelve (12)
months.
-- Non-exclusive rights to purchase and deploy EEStor's EESU in new
passenger vehicles with a curb weight over 1,400 kilograms, net of
battery weight (this does not include vehicles that are classified as
Sport Utility Vehicles, Pickups, Trucks, Trams, and Buses).

The rights that ZMC holds expire when the last applicable EEStor patent expires.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact:

Catherine Scrimgeour
ZENN Motor Company Inc.
Manager, Public Affairs
(416) 535-8395 ext. 201
cscrimgeour@ZENNcars.com

Ian Clifford
ZENN Motor Company Inc.
Chief Executive Officer
(416) 535-8395 ext. 202
Ian.clifford@ZENNcars.com

Dec 31, 2009 UPDATE #2 From B:

Carl Watkins wishes to clarify the following. The first unit coming from LightEVs will be 1kWh. They may offer 400Wh units at some later date but certainly the first unit out of the gate will be 1kWh.

----------------------------------

This is a correction to my previous LightEVS article here.

Our fearless leader B has taken it uppon himself to get ahold of Carl Watkins of LightEVS once again to answer a few questions on their expected product from EEStor.

It seems that the 2"2"8 e-bike battery that LightEVS expects to get from EEStor and demo to potentional manufacturers will be a 400Wh unit (and not the 1000 Wh unit as previously mentioned). This brings down its energy density to about 762 wh/L. -See calculation- . While much lower than the speculated 1900 wh/L, 700 Wh/L does not disapoint! 700 wh/L is still about 2.5 times the energy density of typical Li-Ion batteries.

Another tid-bit was given out by Carl from LightEVS. There is a design for a 1000Wh unit afterall. It would be approximatly 3"*4"*10" and hold 1000Wh. After a bit of calculation, this comes out to 508 Wh/L. -See Calculation- While slightly less energy dense than the 2x2x8 inch design, it was mentioned that both of these units would hold the EEStor cells and the power electronics in an aluminum box. I speculate that the lower Wh/L means that the 1kwh unit would have a higher power output to drive heavier e-bikes and e-cycles, therefor they have less energy density overall. Carl W. also mentioned that the power electronics for LightEVS would be much more compact than the power electronics ZENN would have (Most likely due to the power output needs.)

To put these new figures into perspective, I took a tape-measure to my E-Bike battery and found that it is about 6"*2.5"*14.5" and holds 324wh for a grand total of 90.9 Wh/L! It weighs 12 lbs. My current e-bike battery can ride me about 15-20 miles at full throttle and no peadling with a max speed of 23mph. It can provide a maximum output of about 700 watts at 24-42 volts (36v).

Discuss this article here:

(Note: I made a faint outline of a 3*4*10" unit overlaid on my e-bike battery)

Correction to this Article Here:

As hinted in a recent post by B, Carl Watkins from LightEVS seems to be expecting from EEStor to be able to market to interested ebike manufactures "it would be 2inches by 2 inches by maybe 8 inches" And that this unit would contain 1kWh of energy.
By doing a bit of calculating,
this comes out to 0.52 liters and an energy density of over 1900 Wh/L calculation

When compared to earlier EEStor stats of 700 Wh/L this indicates that final production EESUs that are almost 2.75x more energy dense than previous EEStor specifications! Could this be the "smoking gun" for EEStor's 2007 delay for "advanced technologies?"

To put this in perspective, this new design would allow a 52kWh EESU that is less than one cubic foot. (Depending on the size of the conversion circuits). Try fitting that into a drive-train design... it's not very difficult!

Conversely Carl from LightEVS has indicated that E-Motorcycle manufactures want a "10kWh sized EESU". This amount of storage could theoretically be 4" x 10" x 8" or a cube that is less than 7 inches on a side.

Below you can see a mock-up of a 2" x 2" x 8" EEStor/LightEVS e-bike battery holding 1 kWh. This has been placed on top of my 0.32 kWh e-bike battery for size comparison. It sort of looks like a block of Velveeta... Mmmm that’s some tasty cheese!
Discuss this article here:

-------

Video of Bret's ebike.

Original Story: Astonishing EEStor News!?!
By The EEStor Blogger

Astonishing EEStor News!?!

Before we all get carried away with what could be astonishing EEStor news, it's important to calm the soul, slow down and peer into the wider significance of reality, your life and the universe around you. It's said that 25% of the Earth's inhabitants do not enjoy the use of electricity. Ergo, there are almost literally worlds amid our world which struggle with a great many things we take for granted. Our comfort and the human suffering around the world represent an unignorable lack of balance, one that we are fortunate to have had attacked by heroes who declare the status quo unacceptable.

Until we join these individuals on the higher plain, our own personal lives will very likely mirror the various imbalances in our world. That is, our attempts to satisfy our multitude of greedy desires will invariably lead to lonely, hollow illusions of human fulfillment. The real opportunity is to attack human suffering in order to win one's own humanity.

From it's inception, this blog has been dedicated to the memory of Fr. Angelo D'Agostino, founder of Nyumbani. (It's not a monument or even a church, but then again, D'Agostino has not yet been canonized so relax a little.) :-) After almost 3 years, that dedication seems fitting because EEStor represents a truth not unlike that of ridding Africa of the scourge of AIDS at least insofar as the founding vision is concerned. Granted, in wildly different realms, Nyumbani and EEStor set out to accomplish what is widely considered impossible. Nyumbani attacks human apathy with a goal to normalize & nurture the lives of children who have lost their parents to AIDS. EEStor attacks scientific hubris with a goal to create something extremely useful before giving in to the desire to explain how it is even possible, thereby jeopardizing how it is used and by whom. Does the anology feel stretched a bit? Never mind.

Even if the above reflection has no resonance for you, I felt it important to provide a bit more information about Nyumbani. So I reached out to the succesor of Fr. D'Agostino, a kind soul by the name of Sr. Mary Owens. Hopefully, it will provide additional information for why I support this great charity.

----------------------------------------------------

Dear B,

Greetings from Nyumbani.

See answers to your questions under each question.

I would have appreciated more info about who you are.
Blessings,

Sister Mary

[B's Note: Even charitable people wonder who. ;-) ]

B wrote:
Dear Sr. Mary,

I met Fr. D'Ag in the Washington DC area a few years ago and have been giving my support to Nyumbani ever since. I hope you are doing well.
I would like to write an article about Nyumbani for a blog I maintain. I was hoping you might be so kind as to answer a few questions for the article.
1) Are donations to Nyumbani accounted for in a transparent way? How can one be sure funds are used in an effective manner?
All donations are receipted and our accounts are audited by one of the leading world audit firms

2) What is the most pressing need of your organization at this time of December 2009?
We look to Christmas to receive gifts of food, household items, cash donations which help us in the running of Nyumbani Children's Home which depends entirely on donors

3) In the newsletters, I think I've seen mention of some use of renewable energy in the village. Can you share a few thoughts about how that is working? How did you come into it and are there plans to grow it? (I ask about this because my blog is devoted largely to the discussion of renewable energy)

We are growing both jatropha and castor. It was Fr. D'Agostino's dream to run our machines and vehicles on biofuel. Jatropha is taking time to adapt to the environment so we have not harvested seeds yet. We have harvested castor seeds and, because the quantity is still small, have sold as seeds, i.e., we are not yet extracting the oil for use in the Village

4) Can you share a story or two about individuals who benefitted from the services Nyumbani provides?
Our first graduate from Nyumbani Home, Dennis, having acquired a job, moved into his own accommodation in September 2007. He had been with us since 1995.
A visit to Nyumbani Home these days is an experience of meeting happy, healthy children running or cycling around, playing sport, reading in the library or relaxing in their home - totally different from a visit in the 90s when you would see children at varying stages of diminishment and when 1 to 2 would die each month

5) Do you think Fr. D'Ag is a saint? Is he helping out from up above? Any stories you can share in this regard?
Fr. D'Agostino was a good man. I believe that all good people are saints. In addition, he still inspires people - a fruit of a good life. I believe too that he intercedes for us with God.

If your charity is successful, what does it look like 10-25yrs from now?

We shall be out of business since, by then, virtually no child will be born with the virus.

Best Regards,

B

http://nyumbani.org/

Fr. Angelo D'Agostino and Sr. Mary Owens

Original Story: EEStor's Carl Nelson Flexes Muscles
By The EEStor Blogger

EEStor's 80 Yr Old Carl Nelson after a recent workout. (accuracy of photo not guaranteed)

Thanks to an alert tavern owner in Thailand known only as Mark, we learned yesterday that EEStor's principle co-inventor, Carl Nelson, former colleague of MIT's Arthur Von Hippel, is busy battling away with the United States Patent & Trademark office for EEStor's claims. In a letter dated November 6, 2009, Nelson continues to press for the EEStor discovery of "a primary particle having an unexpectedly high relevative permittivity with low variance within the temperature range of -55C and 125C and having desirable breakdown voltage above and beyond what those idiots like Y_Po and EE-Tom think it should be." Elsewhere, Nelson states that the "primary particles of composition modified barium titanate [have a] dielectric constant of greater than 33,000 and high break down voltagae of greater than 6000V. Or in other words, plenty of power to kick any other capacitor's ass. Bring it."

In a rare follow up interview, Nelson reflected on EEStor's relative strength and power in relation to all other would be competitors, "as far as energy storage is concerned, it's us vs a bunch of puny 12yr old boys. We will dominate the world with our genuinely ULTRA capacitors and enjoy life feasting on our victory." (editor's note: accuracy of quote similar to photo).

So, there you have it. Carl Nelson, getting a bit feisty and flexing his muscles. What else would you expect the co-inventor of the 21st century's greatest technological wonder?

Note: the photo and silly quotes are not real.

Original Story: Is Al Gore lying to Charlie Rose about Energy Storage?
By The EEStor Blogger

Charlie Rose is a sort of journalist well known for his interviews of interesting people. He recently interviewed Al Gore on November 4, 2009. This is interesting to eestorians because Charlie Rose is a limited partner at Kleiner Perkins. That means he gives his money to Kleiner partners who then invest it in companies like EEStor. As we know from SEC records, Kleiner invested $3mil in EEStor. Based on the valuation of Zenn Motor Company and Dick Weir's statement that KPCB owns "twenty something percent" of EEStor, that $3Mil is now worth $300Mil even before EEStor has revealed 3rd party validation of their claims. That is a 100X return on investment and if you own shares in a Kleiner fund, you may have access to information about investments that show that much progress. Based on how Kleiner loves to tout it's success, it's very likely you do have access to that information, if you are an investor like Charlie Rose. Naturally, any time you talk with one of the key partners, you might want to inquire how your dollars are performing with that stupendous return they keep mentioning when asking you for further investment in new funds. (can you imagine looking at the EEStor returns to date and having Kleiner report something like 'Oh, that? You won't have access to any of it. We made such a silly mistake there. Every time
I'm asked about that, I wish I could find a bag for my head.' Yeah right!)

Enter the interview with Al Gore.

As you see in the above youtube video, Al Gore starts pontificating about solar technology and then abruptly turns to the "extremely important" topic of energy storage. Rose then inquires not about where we are in terms of energy storage development but rather, oddly, about "where are we in terms of dramatic developments in battery capacity?" Such wording makes one want to ask Charlie Rose the same question. Also, notice specifically, how Rose's eyes glare into Gore when he asks the question much as they do when Rose is sipping coffee in his lovely garden on weekend mornings while he thumbs through his financial statements which document what makes his lavish lifestyle possible. (emphasis mine--focus on the glare of truth on Rose's face, almost like if laser beams were x-raying Gore to see what brand of underwear he has on or if it
it made of hemp).

Gore's response is not quick because he is likely hearing the echo of John Doerr saying, "if we bring you on, you can't spill the beans, man." The pace of his voice slows initially--happy he
caught himself.... exactly like someone keeping a secret. Then, we have unusual body gyrations similar to shifting in one's chair. Gore's eyes shift in several directions (note: Gore is a southpaw). It's difficult to interpret all of these movements because what Gore is hiding, in terms of his EEStor knowledge, is not easily drawn out by the question Rose asked. Had it been a more direct question, we might be able to more easily make sense of Gore's shiftiness.

Here's what we do know. KPCB only has one interesting investment in energy storage--that is EEStor. Gore specifically mentions non lithium chemistries. Any genius out there want to show me a non-lithium chemistry that beats lithium? No? Class dismissed then. Conclusion: Al Gore was not fully truthful when he answered Charlie Rose because he knows EEStor is en route. Outside of politics, we sometimes refer to that as lying. Whether or not we can politely call it lying may best be answered by Charlie Rose. Charlie? Charlie? .......Charles! Come to! Stop drooling on your financial statements.

Note: this posting is dedicated to one of my favorite readers who happens to be a family member and who asked me to write more articles such as the one on EEStor's Carl Nelson.

Don't forget to send a tweet to @algore on twitter.