Global Crisis

For years now, EEStorians have scoured the Internet for the smallest tidbit of new information about EEStor in order to dissect every piece of data from every angle leading into the never terminating debate we all love so much.  One frequent source hit by the cadre is LinkedIn.com.  Unfortunately, some of you have been asleep at the wheel...

The display featured on the concept i3. The production version is thought to be very similar to this.The 2013 BMW i3 will be a revolutionary vehicle. It will be be the first mass produced car that has an aluminum frame and a body made just about entirely out of carbon fiber reinforced...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk6_kCQtdNE&feature=youtu...

Autoblog scored some spy photo's of the BMW i3. The car is noticeably different from the original spy photo's that were taken last year of the car during cols weather testing. This looks VERY close to the concept i3 which is definitely good news.At last weeks LA Auto Show, Richard...

http://tmx.quotemedia.com/article.php?newsid=4783244&qm_symbol=ZNN:CAWe've been here before. Don't get your hopes too hi...

I was invited to attend what BMW called the "Special Sneak Peek Event" for the BMW i3 & i8 on November 9th in New York City. It was the first time BMW has shown these two cars in North America. Later this month they will make their formal NA debuts at the LA Auto Show and this...

I posted my latest EEStor blog article on TheEEStory.com last night.  Did you get to read it? It made a few people's mouth water.MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA...

I haven't really been a big fan of Twitter due to the dominance that celebrities have over this communication medium.  If people aren't accidentally posting nude photos of themselves, they are often inebriated and issuing a very short speech on a topic we don't trust them to understand (their life for example).   So, what becomes important...

One of the things that bothers me (even about myself) is all of the whining and BS surrounding EEStor's obviously L A T E delivery of verifiably working technology.  Well, believers and doubters, keep your tears to yourself because nothing could be worse than promising a simple software game and delivering it 14 years later.   We're talking...

I've written a lot about Khosla's interest in EEStor over the past couple years.  I've also written about Khosla's interest in general in energy storage and Recapping Inc. in particular.  So, I find it interesting that Katie Fehrenbacher is reporting to have "heard that Kleiner’s John Doerr and Khosla’s Vinod Khosla are taking Board seats...

Less than 24 hours after Apple Inc. created its first post-Steve Jobs, "oh shit" marketing moment by failing to extinguish the world media's most prolific prediction failure (nominally) in the history of human existence, Steve Jobs' internal components have crashed irreparably & permanently.  There is no backup.Palo Alto, CA coroners Jim Balsillie...

In the 2013 BMW i3 you will always be connected to the outside world and the information superhighway. Three large displays will act as interfaces between the vehicle and the outside world. See how they interact in the above video....

Solyndra FinancesThe train wreck that is Solyndra continues to unfold in the media, each day seeming to be worse than the prior one.  Now, poor Stephen Chu (nice guy that he is) has stepped up to claim responsibility for the risky decision to fund Solyndra.  Critics such as myself have advanced two main points throughout all of this....

The concept i3 sitting pretty in Chicago recently during a commercial shootIn just about two years from now, you will be able to walk into any BMW showroom and drive away with an i3 electric car. It will be the first electric car BMW sells. Shortly thereafter, you will be able to...

 BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer recently stated that the 2013 BMW i3 would cost less than a BMW 5 series sedan. While that may not be earth shattering news, it does give us a pretty good idea where the i3 will be positioned price wise. List price for a new 528i is currently about...

According to records released today by the Department of Energy Sandia Labs,  Dick Weir is a bit of a tease. In emails between EEStor and DOE, we learn that in the Spring of 2010, Dick Weir re-initiated contact--via phone-- with Sandia Labs energy storage testing team then lead by now retired John Boyes.  EEStor was seeking a "witness test"...

It's only a short clip, but it's nice to see the concept i3 rolling down a street in Chicago. Although the concept has features like glass doors and roof, you can really see from this what the car will look like. On stage at the unveiling is one thing, but watching it drive on the street in the video gives a better sense of it's dimensions and shape....

Imagine one day, you're walking across a large parking lot at a military base and you look in the sky and see an object you've never seen before. It isn't flying but rather maintaining a fixed position overhead.  It looks like a gray metallic pyramid or triangle and very light clouds are blowing by accentuating the stationary position of the object....

This is me helping sell a few copies of Tyler Hamilton's new book, "Mad Like Tesla" which contains new information about EEStor.  It really does contain new information about EEStor...that I did not know previously. It has fresh EEStor research hitherto unrevealed publicly except in this new book available on Amazon. What new information you ask?...

On Aug 18, 2011, Zenn Motor Company published an update on it's financial condition which looked weaker than a hotdog stand in the middle of the desert.  The good news though is Zenn is aligning their cash burn rate (formerly known as a bonfire inferno) to match the pace of development at EEStor.  Why is this good news?  It means Zenn...

Whew!  Where to start?  The discussions at TheEEStory.com have become so incredibly insightful and informative, I can't even begin to describe how awesome it is.  The quality of insight there is way beyond average.  I would dare say even the people who may be nuts are actually brilliant too.  It is incredibly fun to be part...

Cryptogon.com is a website that endeavors to expose information about covert operations performed by governments, corporations and the media.  Kevin Flaherty is it's author and he resides in New Zealand.Basically, it's a great site to read if you need creative inspiration to come up with a cool movie thriller that has an element of realism.  Or,...

So here it is. It's been over two years since we first started hearing about the mysterious BMW "Megacity Vehicle" since dubbed the 2013 BMW i3 and we're finally getting an official look at what BMW has been cooking up.This is a concept, so the production version will be a bit different,...

I have heard from various sources that BMW is going to publicly unveil their pre-production version of the 2013 i3 at a press gathering on July 28th. I have had a few journalists that have been invited reach out to me and ask if I would be attending also. I will not, but I'm sure...

Patents baby patents!  You got any patents?  I didn't think so!  I don't either. Nor does Y_Po. But EEStor has patents, applications for patents and future plans for patent applications.  Yeah baby, look at the patents. Breath the patents.  And guess what, these patents are rolling out of Cedar Park, TX faster than a new energy...

Suppose you've concluded strongly that the future of energy storage will be based on lithium ion technologies. You know, as in, discussions with others do no good with you because you're completely set in your ways now.  Thus, you decide to write a short history of energy storage and make many elements of the past meld together into a crescendo...

Late Friday, a mysterious video posted to YouTube purported to be of EEStor founder Dick Weir making wild pronouncements about EEStor technology and it's potential impact on the US economy.   After a brief discussion with EEStor today, I learned it is not credib...

I recently came across this interesting report. It's titled "BMW: i3 Electric Vehicle. The Intersection of Policy, Business, & Carbon" and was written by Lauren Blasch, Jeremy Pomp, Marla Stancil, Shyam Vijayaraghavan.The report focuses on electric vehicles and their carbon footprint...

For years, curious searchers of EEStor truth have wondered to themselves, "how can those guys be in high volume production in a tiny strip mall?" Well, thanks to yet another anonymous source, we are now able to confirm the powder production is going gangbusters. Observe.Secret EEStor Powder Storage Site     Cedar Park, TXAs you can see, the...

 According to BMWCOOP and some of my other sources, the BMW i3 as well as the i8 may be formally introduced as early as late July. This goes against most reports that the i3 will be seen for the very first time at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. While BMW has shown...

As you rock back and forth with drool escaping on to your clothes and things around you in response to TheEEStory.com being down, it may be a good time to consider whether your addiction to my website is really the best thing for you.   Sure, it is great fun to talk with others every day about the same mostly silent battery company, but is it...

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...

 Although it hasn't been officially announced by BMW, there have been numerous reports that the BMW i3 will be introduced at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show this September, albeit in pre-production form.Will we finally get to see how the car will look without all the blue and white...

 According to this report from Car & Driver, the 2013 BMW i3 is going to cost $35,000, have a 150 hp motor and have a driving range of 160 miles. If true, this is great news. I have been following the i3 since it was first revealed and everything that I have read and heard...

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...

 It may not be much to look at in the above picture, but this newly constructed factory in Moses Lake, Washington will play a big role in the BMW i3 and probably many other future BMW vehicles.BMW, along with the SGL Group built this facility in Moses Lake primarily because...

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...

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...

 BMW Blog posted a new i3 rendering. today. It may not seem like big news, but BMW is doing their best to keep details and photos of the i3 under wraps so even drawings become news on the i3. It seems that ever since the spy shots were captured, the illustrations are able...

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....

Happy East...

Source: Masshightech.comSix 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...

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...

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&DThis move is a little surprising because in the past, BMW has rarely hired top...

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...

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...

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...

Source: Google ImagesWired's Noah Shachtman & Spencer Ackerman have been publishing a series of investigative articles attacking the ethics of DARPA head Regina Dugan.  The controversy centers around the fact that prior to her appointment to head the US DoD's premier research organization, she helped launch a startup company, RedXDefense,...

Zenn Motor Company has recently undergone a shakeup of its board of directors and management that has left many scratching their head wondering what was going on. Thanks to the efforts of a couple inquisitive and remarkably thorough citizen journalists, we have the benefit of a more enlightened view of the battle to control Zenn Motor Company's...

The Power Electronics & Battery System of the i3's Drive SystemThe previous post here showed a video about CFRP, the material that will be used in the "Life Cell" of the 2013 BMW i3. The picture above is part of the other component of the cars unique LifeDrive architecture, the...

1955Young Dick Weir receives first cluefrom God concerning  energy storage.Perhaps, it is fair to say that for years now, everyone has had the same image of how EEStor runs its operation.   Essentially, you have a collection of short nerdy looking geeks in white lab coats raising their hands until addressed by two large, lumbering characters...

One of the main goals BMW had with the development of the Megacity car now known as the i3, was to reduce the weight as much as possible while providing a strong, safe passenger cell. The extensive use of carbon fiber reinforced plastics or CFRP, has allowed them to do just that. While the use of CFRP isn't a new idea in the automotive industry, using...

Devout followers of EEStor often wonder if the company's online reputation is the target of sock puppets, ie, individuals paid to bash EEStor online.  It seems everyone has a theory about who is a sock puppet for whom in this regard.  But some will deny that sock puppets actually exist.  Personally, I definitely believe there are sufficient...

BMW now has an i3 section on their website. While it doesn't have any new information that hasn't been available here and on the internet for a while now, at least they have begun to post information about it. While it's still over two years away from production, there are a lot...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9GDztzJEvo&feature=player_embed...

James E. KofmanAccording to a late night Zenn Motor Company press release, "certain shareholders of the Company" have received cooperation from Zenn management to allow three new individuals to take seats on the Zenn Board of Directors.  Departing board members include Brian Cott, Stephen Rodgers & John R. Wallace. Inbound board members include...

Image: Starships.com? WT?Nah, I'm kidding.  It's probably just technical difficulties. You know, difficulties that are technical meaning techniques and technologies are technically tenacious at this time.  Don't worry though, you don't really need TheEEStory.com right now. You have this blog post to read which I can tell you are definitely...

For over a year now BMW has been talking about the 2013 "Megacity" vehicle. It will be the first all electric BMW sold ever. Since it was first announced, we have never actually seen a picture or a clear rendering of what the car will look like, just vague sketches until now. The...