Global Crisis

I've written about Vinod Khosla's interests in energy storage several times.  He has many strong opinions about many areas of cleantech but energy storage has to be placed near the top of what he is passionate about.  Previously, I reported on Khosla's investment in Recapping Inc., a startup intent on revolutionizing ceramic based capacitor storage using insight gained from semiconductor

When the weather warms up, weddings begin populating the calendar & love is in the air.  In the business world, corporate courting occasionally leads to similar unifications.  Today, Zenn Motor Company announced the intention to repeat their vows with EEStor in a press release issued this morning.  New board chairman, Jim Kofman pledged "to increase its interaction with EEStor and, where

According to this report BMW is recruiting 40 engineers that specialize in carbon fiber to join the i3 and i8 development teams.

The photo above is the frame of the i3 during crash testing simulations. This further proves BMW's commitment to the extensive use of CFRP in their future models, particularly vehicles in the new i line.

The i3 will eventually have three variations. The initial i3, the one we have been focusing on here will be a three door hatchback that seats four and is scheduled to be release in 2013. Rumors have it that this version will be then offered with an onboard range extending, gasoline powered generator. A few years later, there will be a smaller two seat hatchback with a smaller range for inner city driving, and then a five seat, four door version that is larger then the original i3 and will have a larger battery with a range at least as great as the original i3.

BMW may be joining the EV party a bit later than some competitors, but they certainly have some grand plans for the next three to five years. This recent news about hiring more engineers that specialize in CFRP only adds credibility to their commitment to light weight, highly efficient electric and plug in hybrid vehicles. That's good news in my book.

Now that Bin Laden is dead,  we will all be awash in information about his life complete with speculation about why people like him emerge from the masses to perpetuate evil.  These journalistic efforts will no doubt draw on the countless research efforts conducted by astute academics hell bent on understanding Bin Laden's mind through herculean effort to retrace and recount every significant

Given that President Obama released his long form birth certificate today, it seems like a decent time to kick off a series of articles I've been sitting on related to the improbabilities of life that sometimes come to fruition.   Everyone considers EEStor a long shot and an improbability.  But sometimes improbabilities becomes realities.  These articles will offer no new insight to EEStor per se

Happy Easter.

Source: Masshightech.com
Six years after leading the Kleiner Perkins effort to invest in EEStor, billionaire venture capitalist Bill Joy has finally commented publicly about the investment at the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge this past Thursday evening.  During an open Q&A session, an attendee asked about progress at EEStor and Joy spent about five minutes talking about energy storage in

Dear Secretary Chu,


First of all, thank you for your service to our country. I sincerely believe you are prioritizing appropriately around renewable energy. Additionally, I thank you for your work to promote interest in and research of energy storage.  Your leadership in these areas deserves much praise. 
I am writing to you today because my associate Tom Villars submitted a FOIA request  (FOIA

In a move that further solidifies BMW's commitment to electric cars, they have just hires Frank Weber, former head engineer for the Chevy Volt. Frank will report to Klaus Draeger, BMW's head of R&D

This move is a little surprising because in the past, BMW has rarely hired top people from other auto makers, electing instead to train and promote from within. In my opinion, this is an example of how important BMW feels it is to accelerate their electric car line and not fall behind in the race to bring a wide range of electric cars and plug in hybrids to their showrooms.

What I find particularly interesting is that there have been a lot of rumors around that BMW will be offering a range extender for the i3 shortly after the original BEV version is released in 2013. I'm hearing a lot of talk about a three cylinder, turbo charged engine as being the suspected powerplant for such a set up. This would make the i3 very similar to the Volt so in that regard Mr. Weber's experience can make an immediate impact on the development of the i3.

Thanks to a dedicated reader who has contributed research to numerous items of interest to the EEStory, we have an interesting book excerpt to read in order to get us into the mindset of Dick Weir in his fund raising days.  What am I talking about?

The book Ship of Gold was published in 1998 and written by Gary Kinder.  It documents the story of "maverick scientist and entrepreneur Tommy

Note: the following article is based on several German news articles I read recently. To preserve accuracy, I felt it appropriate to abandon the horrible translations made possible by Google and other similar tools and just hack it together myself.  I think you will find the significance of the story easier to grasp as a result.

A German company--DBM Energy-- has identified a way to connect tiny

An Apple patent application published yesterday describes a rechargeable external battery pack combined with a power adapter. The idea of the patent is to eliminate the need for a traveler to pack both.  But wait, there's more. The device would also have adapters that made it possible to charge your iphone or other portable electronic devices too.  
Why am I writing about this?  Because in the