Canada Zinc Metals arranges $3-million placement CZX.v, TNR.v, BLS.to, LUN.to, QUA.to, FCX, CUU.v, DON.v, BWR.to, CS.to, BHP, RTP, RIO, IMN.to,

"CZX’s Cardiac Creek deposit (Akie property) represents one of the top 10 largest undeveloped zinc deposits on the planet. The deposit is very good grade with a very high grade section within it that could be mined first (quicker payback of capital). CZX also has a very large prospective land package – this represents a district scale opportunity in mining friendly BC, Canada. Infrastructure in the area is relatively advanced (full road access, railway, power facility, deep sea port). Neighboring property / deposits owned by big players Teck Resources and Korea Zinc. We are going to China to visit Tongling and other Chinese companies next week for further discussions on our project development"

"Tongling exercises its warrants at 20% premium to the market today (0.50CAD) - it is a very positive sign of commitment. Now Chinese company holds 17.5% in Canada Zinc Metals CZX.v, when will they bid for the whole company? Another important shareholder is Lundin Mining LUN.to With new Bailout in Europe direction is to Inflation and Commodities are the place to be. Another company we are following here is engaged in this Chinese M&A in Canada story: TNR Gold Corp. with International Lithium Corp. where CZX has a stake. Will shareholders in TNR Gold wake up one morning with new Chinese connection one day?"

With recent market meltdown Canada Zinc Metals provides another very good Entry point into this Chinese M&A play in Commodities in Canada. Markets are signaling that risk appetite could be back now and Company reports that after Chinese Tongling has exercised their warrants at 0.6CAD it was able to secure another sizable financing at that level with more than 20% premium to the market.

"Canada Zinc Metals arranges $3-million placement

2010-05-27 07:44 ET - News Release
Mr. Peeyush Varshney reports
CANADA ZINC METALS ANNOUNCES NON-BROKERED PRIVATE PLACEMENT
Canada Zinc Metals Corp. has arranged a private placement of five million units at a price of 60 cents per unit for gross proceeds of up to $3-million.
Each unit will consist of one common share and one-half share purchase warrant of the company. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of 80 cents for a period of 18 months from closing.
A finder's fee of 7 per cent will be paid on the private placement. The private placement is subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.
The proceeds of the private placement are anticipated to be used for further exploration of the Akie Sedex zinc-lead deposit and for working capital purposes.
About the Akie and Kechika regional properties
The Akie zinc-lead property is situated within the southernmost part (Kechika trough) of the regionally extensive Paleozoic Selwyn basin, one of the most prolific sedimentary basins in the world for the occurrence of Sedex zinc-lead-silver and stratiform barite deposits.
Drilling on the Akie property by Inmet Mining Corporation during the period 1994 to 1996 and by Canada Zinc Metals since 2005 has identified a significant body of baritic zinc-lead Sedex mineralization (Cardiac Creek deposit). The deposit is hosted by variably siliceous, fine-grained clastic rocks of the Middle to Late Devonian Gunsteel formation. The company has outlined an NI 43-101-compliant inferred resource of 23.6 million tonnes grading 7.6 per cent zinc, 1.5 per cent lead and 13.0 grams per tonne silver (at a 5-per-cent zinc cut-off grade).
Two similar deposits, Cirque and Cirque South Cirque, located approximately 20 kilometres northwest of Akie and owned under a joint venture by Teck Resources and Korea Zinc, are also hosted by Gunsteel rocks and have a combined geologic inventory in excess of 50 million tonnes (not 43-101-compliant) grading approximately 10 per cent combined zinc and lead.
In addition to the Akie property, Canada Zinc Metals controls a large contiguous group of claims which consist of the Kechika regional project. These claims are underlain by geology identical to that on the Akie property (Cardiac Creek deposit) and Cirque. This project includes the 100-per-cent-owned Mt. Alcock property, which has yielded a historic drill intercept of 8.8 metres grading 9.3 per cent zinc and lead, numerous zinc-lead-barite occurrences, and several regional base metal anomalies.
All of the company's claims (77,889 hectares), with the exception of a small isolated block (2,293 hectares), are in good standing, under the provisions of the Mineral Tenure Act of British Columbia, until Dec. 8, 2018."

Lithium Batteries Powering Ten Percent of Autos by 2020 TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LMR.v, WLC.v, CLQ.v, LI.v, SQM, FMC, ROC, FCX, BHP, LUN.to, NG.to, NSANY,

This report continues our quest in Electric Cars adoption rate scenarios:

"As you can see above, explosive growth in some sectors can happen even when economy is slowly growing as a whole. Authors of the Deloitte study very carefully took into consideration a lot of different aspects for adoption of the new technology like Electric Cars. Have they missed something? Maybe not when we are talking about U.S. in a "normal situation", but we are living in a "New Normal" according to PIMCO. Charts above and below bring us some more dimensions for thoughts. It is growth of Oil consumption in China from 1965 and below is Rate of this Growth compare to other countries. We will bring a new factor into the growth valuation for EVs - what if there is no more Cheap Oil left and how it feels to be grounded? We will address you to the Life After Oil and other thoughts on the Peak Oil."


LithiumInvestingNews:

"Lithium Batteries Powering Ten Percent of Autos by 2020

By Dave Brown – Exclusive to LithiumInvestingNews.com

The Royal Academy of Engineering has issued a report that suggests hybrid and electric cars may grab as much as 10 percent of the European automobile market by 2020. The largest impediments for this forecast appear to be cost hurdles, standardized regulations, and infrastructure investments.
The report points out that the reserve base represents sufficient lithium for a billion EV batteries, meaning that lithium shortages do not appear imminent and the diversity of possible battery chemistries suggests that a shortage of battery materials is unlikely. In addition to the lithium based batteries, which currently appear to be the industry’s state of the art technological benchmark, energy storage sources might potentially include lead, nickel, sodium, and zinc-based chemistries.
The report identifies four technical issues: availability of high energy-density batteries at a practical price, feasibility of charging vehicles, infrastructure implementation, and a ’smart grid’ that can recharge millions of electric vehicles using low-carbon electricity. The current contribution of renewable and low-carbon generation to the United Kingdom’s energy supply is one of the lowest in Europe. If the country intends to meet its renewable energy targets, a range of new low-carbon sources will be needed, including new nuclear power stations, wind farms, and tidal barrages.
Last October, a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP indicated that automobiles manufacturers are set to introduce 42 electric models worldwide by 2012"

International Lithium Corp. Spin off: management information circular posted TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LMR.v, WLC.v, LI.v, CLQ.v, AVL.to, RES.v, QUC.v,

TNR Gold has posted on May 25th, 2010 Management Information Circular with International Lithium Corp. plan of arrangement:

http://sedar.com/

Powered by Lithium: Nissan CEO Ghosn Sticks With Bullish Electric-Car Forecast TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LMR.v, WLC.v, LI.v, SQM, FMC, ROC, NSANY, BYDDY, F,

This devise above is the basis for the Next Big Thing and we have it at every home which can afford to buy any car now.

Now we need these cars to be on the road and drive the market.

"The main open question is: will Electric Cars' adoption rate be correlated with Washing Machines' one or will it enjoy more explosive growth like Mobiles with rate of acceleration like iPods on the chart below? First, we will strike brutally and cynically (the way the Wall Street works): how can you compare washing machines and Cars? Even Electric ones? Cars are all about men, their personal social security space with a statement. How many of us discussed washing machines even the best ones? Brutal history about washing machines is that it was for the "best part" - to make her life better, it was not about status and not about statement - so it took 80 years to get to the 80% adoption rate. On a more serious note time has changed: it will not be about him all the time this time and it is not about U.S. only this time, but first back to iPod Moment."

WSJ:

Nissan CEO Ghosn Sticks With Bullish Electric-Car Forecast

Carlos Ghosn, credited with turning around ailing Nissan a decade ago, said today he’s confident sales of electric cars will account for 10% of the market by 2020. He isn’t worried by naysayers who, he says, are often car makers who simply aren’t prepared to compete in the rising electric segment.
The Nissan and Renault CEO said in a meeting with Wall Street Journal editors and reporters that the two car companies plan to roll out several electric models in the next few years. If anything, he says, that pace may still be too slow because demand for electrics is almost certain to accelerate once consumers see them in action. His biggest worry: that demand for electric vehicles “will take off faster than expected and we will be under capacity.”
So why he so bullish on electric cars when many analysts and industry watchers predict they will account for only about 2% of the market in 10 years? Part of the reason is infrastructure. Ghosn says Nissan is pursuing agreements with governments and businesses to install charging stations in parking garages, shopping areas, office parks and elsewhere so drivers won’t have to worry as much about range, a nagging disadvantage for electrics compared with gasoline-powered cars.
Ghosn also says there are charging systems in development that can cut the time it takes to recharge electric car batteries from hours to minutes. Nissan is focused on the U.S. launch in December of the Leaf, an electric sedan with a range of about 100 miles. Ghosn says the company is in contact with 130,000 “hand raisers” — people who have expressed interest in the Leaf, and 13,000 advance orders for the car. He says these numbers represent individual consumers, not government and corporate fleets."

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Both builder, Fery Saifuloh and Wardoyo, from the workshop G2C in Cinere, Depok, showing the work of the Honda Mega Pro 2006. They are without a total overhaul of waste moge, relying only local goods. Most important, they said, the motor must remain visible ciamik.Change their concept of the motor home Yogyakarta Riandaru This refers...

NEW MINERVA T150 VX 2010

Minerva T150VX 2010Specification minerva T150VXKristanto explained, the front fairing Minerva R150VX more sporty than previous variants. Meanwhile, the rear fairing far looks very sporty rear fenders.Also be a sporty tank, larger fuel tanks such as motor...

China will award buyers of green cars with subsidies of up to 60,000 yuan ($8,789) each TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LMR.v, WLC.v, LI.v, CLQ.v, SQM, FMC, ROC,

"We will bring a new factor into the growth valuation for EVs - what if there is no more Cheap Oil left and how it feels to be grounded? We will address you to the Life After Oil and other thoughts on the Peak Oil."

Nothing will be left to chance: China has carefully planed and now is executing its strategy in Electric Car space. Now we have another confirmation about State level shift in technology from China.

"Two charts show the dynamic of China's expansion into auto space reflecting the explosive Oil Consumption Rate of Growth above. This is why it will be not about only U.S. this time, but every move in China will affect U.S."

"Two most important points from here: Oil Consumption will go up dramatically with declining production, without major State level shift in technology China and India will not be able to bring mobility to its population without suffocating its own people and along the way they will drive prices for Oil above USD150 again."

Reuters:

Chinese green car buyers to get rebates -paper

Mon May 24, 2010 12:23am EDT
SHANGHAI, May 24 (Reuters) - China will award buyers of green cars with subsidies of up to 60,000 yuan ($8,789) each, the Shanghai Securities News said on Monday, as it steps up efforts to cut emissions in the world's biggest auto market.
Stocks Global Markets Cyclical Consumer Goods
The Chinese government has worked out a plan to subsidise green car buyers and will unveil details by the end of this month, the newspaper said, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
Subsidies will be based on the performance and energy-savings efficiency of the models, the paper said.
Maximum subsidies for buyers of pure electric vehicles is 60,000 yuan each, while those for plug-in hybrid and normal hybrid cars are 50,000 yuan and 3,000 yuan respectively, it said.
Beijing said in December 2009 that it will subsidise green vehicle buyers in five selected cities.
It will also expand a pilot scheme to subsidise the purchase of clean-energy vehicles for public transport fleets in 13 cities to 20 cities, it said, without giving a timetable or naming the cities. [ID:nTOE5B9033]
Chinese automakers, unscathed by a savage global downturn, are ramping up efforts to get cleaner, low-emission vehicles on the roads, counting on the green drive to propel them into the top ranks of the global auto industry.
From leading Chinese auto group SAIC Motor Corp (600104.SS) to rising star Geely Automotive Holding (0175.HK), indigenous players showcased a host of new green vehicles at the 2010 Beijing autoshow in April.
Foreign automakers are also on the move. In 2011, General Motors [GM.UL] will roll out its Chevy Volt plug-in hybrid in China next year, while Nissan Motor (7201.T) will bring its electric model, Leaf, to the country. ($1=6.826 Yuan) (Reporting by Fang Yan and Jacqueline Wong)

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Electric Cars' adoption rate: Washing Machines or Mobiles with iPods Squared? TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LMR.v, WLC.v, CLQ.v, SQM, FMC, ROC, F, BYDDY, NSANY,

CS. The time has come for Electric Cars: we are sure about it, but how fast will they be adopted, will we be able to capitalise on Green Mobility Revolution - these questions are still open. Recent research paper from Deloitte "Gaining traction. A customer view of electric vehicle mass adoption in the U.S. automotive market" has sparked a lot of discussions. We will join it with a few pictures and charts, not as good as one from Nicholas Felton below, but always providing food for thoughts. Please do not hesitate to click on charts to enlarge the images.

The main open question is: will Electric Cars' adoption rate be correlated with Washing Machines' one or will it enjoy more explosive growth like Mobiles with rate of acceleration like iPods on the chart below? First, we will strike brutally and cynically (the way the Wall Street works): how can you compare washing machines and Cars? Even Electric ones? Cars are all about men, their personal social security space with a statement. How many of us discussed washing machines even the best ones? Brutal history about washing machines is that it was for the "best part" - to make her life better, it was not about status and not about statement - so it took 80 years to get to the 80% adoption rate. On a more serious note time has changed: it will not be about him all the time this time and it is not about U.S. only this time, but first back to iPod Moment.

"Ideal market situation for the new disruptive technology to create a life time investing opportunity is when Demand for product or service is already there and you are able to deliver it in a new way, which will be more appealing to Existing consumers of this product or service. You have a dramatic shift in consumer preference and are gaining a market share in a tidal wave fashion by shifting consumers from existing providers to the new product or service place. You do not have to teach the market and prove that they need this product - you just need to prove that the new technology you are putting in place is viable to deliver the Better Experience.
We have always loved our music. Sony made a Revolution in the way we consume the music with its Walkman - we were able to take our music with us as we go. CDs made the quality of music more appealing and record companies sold us our music one more time.
Steeve Jobs made another Revolution by providing the means to consume what we exactly want with iTunes and means to Store and Retrieve All Our Music as we go in iPod. He sold us our own music one more time and we were happy to buy it. He has brought us a new Experience of how we consume the same music: it is convenient, easy, Searchable, high quality and with us - all of it. We have moved in droves to the new source of Joy."

"With Electric Cars all market estimations that we saw so far (apart from quote from Warren Buffett) looks like a drop in the bucket at a time. Will it be 2%, 5% or 10% claimed by Nissan in 2020? It is not a Revolution - it is like a tea party. We dare to differ and think that Electric Cars will provide to us a new Experience how we consume Mobility: energy efficient, environment friendly and cheaper with all cost accounted. And yes - they will sell us our cars one more time, this time in Electric version.
Is it bad - not at all if you will be investing in Electric Cars value chain. Even if not, we will all gain from it more than from iPods - after all we have never heard about somebody being killed by CD, but those, who still do not believe that cars pollute and kill our environment including us, can try to breath from exhaust pipe for a while to be sure.
We expect consumers to shift on a mass scale from CVs to EVs with prove that technology is viable and can provide the same utility with a Better Experience. Emotional Drive will be the driving force of this switch of consumer preferences."


Do not rush to buy every stock we are writing here about: we are biased. Our value in this very important education process is our own experience which we are ready to share. Who knew about Google short ten years ago? Chart above shows another Next Big Thing from the very recent past: Growth of Internet Advertising revenue. We did not understand the magnitude of change in the market space which Google has provided. We was not able to see the new and coming on the rubbles of previous market collapse in NASDAQ and assumed that Hype goes automatically with every Internet player claiming to take the world. Google did it. Company's valuation has collapsed in the end to our projected price of USD250 during the market crash of 2008, but the growth of the sector and Google's domination was astonishing. That is why we are so biased and you should never take anything as an investment advise on this Blog: we are in a constant search for the Next Big Thing and new Bull which will be built on the rubbles of this Economic Collapse. We have found Gold and Silver Bull before and now it is time for new exiting journey.



As you can see above, explosive growth in some sectors can happen even when economy is slowly growing as a whole. Authors of the Deloitte study very carefully took into consideration a lot of different aspects for adoption of the new technology like Electric Cars. Have they missed something? Maybe not when we are talking about U.S. in a "normal situation", but we are living in a "New Normal" according to PIMCO. Charts above and below bring us some more dimensions for thoughts. It is growth of Oil consumption in China from 1965 and below is Rate of this Growth compare to other countries. We will bring a new factor into the growth valuation for EVs - what if there is no more Cheap Oil left and how it feels to be grounded? We will address you to the Life After Oil and other thoughts on the Peak Oil.




Two charts below show the dynamic of China's expansion into auto space reflecting the explosive Oil Consumption Rate of Growth above.


This is why it will be not about only U.S. this time, but every move in China will affect U.S.

Chart below with vehicles per capita is very sobering: China and India have not even started Mobility Revolution by Western world standards.

Two most important points from here: Oil Consumption will go up dramatically with declining production, without major State level shift in technology China and India will not be able to bring mobility to its population without suffocating its own people and along the way they will drive prices for Oil above USD150 again.

Remember these faces above and these new brands coming from Asia. BYD has attracted Warren Buffet and has produced China's wealthiest man already. More to come.

"America needs to catch up with the rest of the world in Electric Space. U.S. is years away from recent advance in lithium batteries and electric cars compare to Japan and China. Nissan spent 5.5 billion dollars and 16 years developing electric cars based on lithium ion technology. Competition is heating on and it is very positive to see DOE supporting at least production of Electric Cars in U.S. developed in another countries. Green Leaf growing in the Homeland is better than nothing even if it is from a foreign tree.
Our main take from U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu Video :
"Price of Lithium batteries is in access of 1000 USD/kWh at the moment, with mass production it will drop to 300-400 USD/kWh ( S. GM is aiming now for 450 USD/kWH in a near term) and with recent technological advance we can talk about 100 USD/kWh as possibility."
As we have wrote before, lithium battery price of USD 25o per kWh will make production of Electric Cars cheaper than a comparable CV - you do not need automatic transmission as part of your power drive.
This is why we are calling it Green Mobility Revolution. Make a step back and look at the big picture. With electricity being the most convenient form of energy known to us, stable pricing and ready availability from existing source infrastructure - we have a transformation technology in place: you can store energy on board of your vehicle Produced Somewhere Else. It means that that energy could be produced thousand miles away using mass scale and most economical production method including Nuclear power, Hydro power generation, Geothermal, Wind, Solar and other renewable sources of energy available today.
Our conventional vehicles did not move far away from steam powered trains. They still carry fuel and power plant on board with very inefficient conversion cycle technology from fuel to mechanical power. Power source is restricted to mobility application and it is very expensive, it can not use economy of scale or different sources including renewables (think about tidal wave generator on board) and you are caring exhaust pipe with you everywhere you drive.
It is time to start thinking about Electric Cars as means to transform our Energy Diet nation wide - you do not need to have power generation plant on board (which will be always expensive and inefficient compare to Industrial Scale version even of the same technology) - you need just most effective storage system and power delivery system: Lithium ion batteries and Electric Powertrain.
This is where you can start thinking with us: that all current estimations about Electric Cars adoption rate could be blown away once technology will be proven to be viable in a mass sale applications."

This stuff above in the bag will be at the heart of this Green Mobility Revolution. It is Lithium and auto industry has adopted the standard battery chemistry based on Lithium for EVs. There is enough Lithium in the world to let Electric Cars go for another one hundred years and it could become the Next Big Thing if our projection on Electric Cars explosive growth will be proven actually taking place within next years. Chart below is Byron Capital Lithium Index with the most leveraged Lithium exploration and development plays to the Electric Cars adoption rate and EV market development as a whole.

EV World:

"The Wringer Washer Vs. The Electric Car

By Bill Moore
When Deloitte Consulting came out with their study, Gaining Traction: A Customer View of Electric Vehicle Mass Adoption in the U.S. Automotive Market earlier this month, the media made much of the fact that electric cars were likely, in Deloitte's view, at least, to be adopted by consumers at about the same rate as washing machines through the Twentieth Century, taking some 80 years to reach just over 80% of households [See the chart they used above]. Do a Google search for "Deloitte study electric cars" to see all the various media reports emphasizing the slow growth of the market for electric cars. For example, "Major Study Predicts Electric Car Adoption Will be Low," reads the headline on GM-Volt.com, pretty much mirroring the view of the likes of Reuters, Economic Times, Fast Company, Wired, etc. Even here on EV World, we dutifully posted links to these reports, as well.
But then I got to thinking about Nicholas Felton's chart, especially the plots for washing machines, stoves, clothes dryers and refrigerators, and it suddenly occurred to me what I was seeing. Can you spot it? Let me help you. Take a look at the graph below tracking the rise of women in the workplace.
Notice any similarity? The rate of adoption of labor saving appliances for the wife would appear to track fairly closely with their entering the workplace. The more hours they worked away from home, the less time they had to engage in the very tedious and time consuming job of washing and drying clothes. Which also raises a second issue of why it took so long for the clothes washer to reach the 80 percent level: lack of innovation.
If you look at photographs and advertisements of washing machines from the 1930's, they are little changed from machines first advertised in 1908. The only real difference was the introduction of the electric motor to run the pump, turn the agitator, and cycle the wringer or mangle, as it was also called. In fact, it would take half a century to see the wringer disappear off the washing machine, replaced by a mechanically-timed spin dry cycle, as manufacturers finally figured out that women didn't want to spend all day squeezing their wet laundry between rubber rollers... twice: once to remove the dirty soap water, and a second time to remove the rinse water.
Not only was the pace of innovation painfully slow when it came to women's labor saving devices, but middle American appliance manufacturers hadn't yet caught on to the idea of planned obsolescence introduced into the auto industry in the 1950s. There are households across America that are still using 1950-era wringer washers 60 years later, some in the name of the new "green frugality" movement. You can even buy working replicas for $899. Those Maytags, Amanas, Hotpoints and Speed Queens were built to last and last, unlike computers, cellphones and television sets, where the pace of technological innovation and fickle fashion makes such devices obsolete in 18 months or less, fostering continual churn in the market and even more innovation.
But back to the central question of the rate at which electric cars will be adopted by society, the rate of consumer acceptance chart above also seems to suggest that the pace of adoption is also driven by gender. As a general rule, men have not, historically, at least, done the laundry or cooked the meals. We -- and I include myself in this -- do tend to take a far keener interest in technology, be it automotive or electronics. Look at the pace of purchases of radios, reaching 50% of the market in less than 10 years. It took just about the same period of time for color television to reach the same 50% of households. It took even less for the Internet.
I contend that an electric car is far closer to a piece of electronics than a kitchen appliance; and, as such, it will appeal to men far more than to women, initially. If I look at the percentage of men reading EV World versus women, it is something around 75 % male versus 25% female; and in our early days it was more like 90-10, which was a function of who was using the Internet back in the late 1990s. Still, this suggests that it will be men who will be shopping for that first electric car; and that means that the decision making process won't be driven by logic, but by emotion.
Much as we'd like to view ourselves as logical, hard-nosed, count-the-cost creatures, men aren't really Vulcans; and neither are women, for that matter. There's a ying-yang quality in our reasoning powers that is strongly influenced by emotions that include aesthetics (styling and creature comforts) and the perception of risk (vehicle performance). The classic example is the Harley Davidson motorcycle and the "logic" that goes into buying what is probably a far cry from a necessity for most owners. It's a grown boy's toy, plain and simple, and one that is used few times year. Of the more than 6.5 million motorcycles registered in America, less than 10% are driven seasonally, and just over 4% are used on a daily basis as a primary form of transportation. The rest sit for that occasional weekend romp, usually by aging baby boomers (1) with discretionary income to spend.
Take a look at this next chart. It accompanied the original Nicholas Felton chart from the New York Times that Deloitte uses in their study. It depicts American household spending by category and income level. After housing, transportation is the highest consumption item on the graph for all three income groups.
"Where does the plug-in and battery-powered car fit into this picture?" I asked myself. "Is the electric car more washing machine or computer?" Here is my hastily jotted list bullet points. The electric car is:
Novel and new
Has perceived economic value with lower daily operating costs than its gasoline competition
Like buying a Harley Davidson motorcycle, it's appeal goes beyond the pure, cold logic of "when will it pay-for-itself" ROI (return-on-investment).
Offers 'beyond petroleum' guilt-free performance and fun
With these four alone, I could easily make the case to the Mrs. -- who is likely to be much more logical and pragmatic about this decision than I would be -- that we really do need that Nissan Leaf or Chevy Volt or CODA or Think or... take your pick.
Of course, there are also the imponderables: range, charging time, battery life, cold weather performance, but each of these can be "reasoned/rationalized" to my satisfaction. I don't drive more than 30 miles a day. My car sits in the garage 23 hours a day. Prius NiMH batteries are going strong at 100,000 miles, so why not lithium? I can pre-warm the batteries overnight or drive my back-up gas-banger on really cold days.
Even cost is becoming less of an issue with the introduction of the Nissan Leaf at US$32,850 prior to federal and state incentives.
Yes, being guy who is as subject to our own form of "irrationality" when it comes to "big boy toy" purchases, as our female counterparts are to theirs, I can come up with as many arguments in favor of buying that grid-connected electric car (GEV), as those against. How about you, brother?
Taking this perspective into consideration, it is my view that the electric-drive vehicle -- in all its guises -- isn't going to take half a century to reach 80% of the market. Depending on the rate of impact of a whole series of social, economic, political, technological, military and environmental drivers, it could come a lot more quickly than we might assume. That, by the way, also happens to be the perspective of the International Energy Agency, as depicted in the final graph below.
So, washing machine or cellphone? Which do you think it'll be?
This isn't my first look at the parallels between washing machines and electric cars. Check out Of Front-loading Washing Machines and the Aptera 2e.
(1) According to a new study by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), the number of motorcyclists 45 and older killed in crashes nearly quadrupled from 2001 to 2005 (the last year for which data is available). Crashes among this age group increased more than 60 percent during that time, compared with a 6 percent drop in the number of crashes for younger motorcycle riders."

Please visit the original article at the headline link for more graphics.

Toyota and Tesla: games around Lithium: Why the Japanese automaker is looking for an electric boost. TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LMR.v, WLC.v, CLQ.v, SQM, FMC

"It is a very significant development not only for Tesla, but for Toyota and EV mass market evolution. Tesla has gained more credibility with this move and it is all about Tesla S model mass production. Roadster was making headlines, but not sales numbers. Tesla S promised to be a 5 seater with more than 200 miles range and price tag of 50000USD. It will not be able to compete with Nissan Leaf at USD25000 after federal tax rebate, but it is the move into right direction. Now apart from Mercedes, Tesla can count on Toyota's expertise in safety, mass production and cost control. Toyota way into EV space is not straight forward, it is the case when actions are more significant than words and sometimes words could be misleading. Toyota announced last September that after years of research they do not see Lithium batteries as a commercial choice for Hybrids at the moment. Lithium juniors crashed with the news hitting the wires. After that surprisingly Toyota place on display a few advanced models of Hybrids and plug-ins with lithium batteries an Frankfurt Motor show 2009. Toyota engineers at the show were talking about clear advantage for use of Lithium batteries. Later 2009 Toyota trading house took a stake in upcoming Lithium developer Orocobre Resources with lithium brine salar in Argentina. Now they have quickly moved into Tesla buying the time and expertise on lithium battery side and controlling systems. It has happen just weeks after the usual bashing of EVs and that Hybrids are the only way in the future."

Now we have another EV in the picture - it is Toyota's concept Plug-In EV with lithium battery. Lithium based battery chemistry is an industry adopted standard now in EV space and Nissan Leaf is the price leader with its price as low as 20000USD after federal and state rebates in some markets. Nissan spent more than 16 years and 5 billion dollars developing with NEC lithium batteries and Electric Cars - Toyota was concentrating on soft hybrids with small batteries and has lost advantage of first mover into the hybrid space. Tesla could bring the battle back close to the US market - where place will be for Tesla S and Toyota EV following the market leaders (as we think) Nissan Leaf and GM Volt.

Forbes:

Inside Toyota's Tesla Play

Joann Muller, 05.21.10, 06:32 PM EDT
Why the Japanese automaker is looking for an electric boost.

It's tough to say which company will benefit most from the new partnership between Japanese automotive giant Toyota Motor and American electric car upstart Tesla Motors.
In a surprise announcement the companies said they will cooperate on the development and production of electric vehicles and components, and that Toyota will buy a $50 million stake in Tesla when it goes public in the near future. Tesla also said it had purchased Toyota's former NUMMI factory near Silicon Valley.
The partnership undoubtedly boosts the credibility of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Tesla. Despite lots of hype about its battery-powered sports cars, many people have doubted whether Tesla has the capital or know-how to become anything more than a niche manufacturer. "Toyota must have conducted substantial due diligence before making this investment," said John O'Dell, senior editor of GreenCarAdvisor.com.
Toyota, meanwhile, gets to tap into Tesla's "coolness" factor--a quality sorely missing from the maker of stodgy Camrys and Corollas--and recapture some of its entrepreneurial legacy. "Toyota would like to learn from the challenging spirit, quick decision-making, and flexibility that Tesla has," said President Akio Toyoda, who has said one reason for Toyota's current quality woes is that the company has grown too big and sluggish. "By partnering with Tesla, my hope is that all Toyota employees will recall that 'venture business spirit,' and take on the challenges of the future."
Odd as it might seem for the world's leading manufacturer of hybrid vehicles, Toyota also has some catching up to do when it comes to fully electric cars. Both Nissan and General Motors plan to introduce plug-in EVs in the U.S. before the end of this year. Toyota, meanwhile, intends to offer a short-range, electric commuter car and a plug-in Prius hybrid in the U.S. in 2012. By teaming up with Tesla, whose current roadster can go 245 miles on a single charge, Toyota said it will have more options. Like other large automakers, Toyota is required in places like California to offer some vehicles that emit little or no tailpipe pollution.
Perhaps even more important, however, is how the Tesla deal helps Toyota politically.

First, it softens the public relations blow Toyota suffered in California when it closed the NUMMI factory last month. The plant used to be a joint venture between Toyota and General Motors, but Toyota got stuck with it after GM filed for bankruptcy and a judge terminated their contract. Toyota said it could no longer afford to operate the factory alone.
"Toyota obviously made a wise political move there," said Sean McAlinden, chief economist for the Center for Automotive Research.
United Auto Workers President Ronald Gettelfinger applauded the decision to revive NUMMI, which once employed nearly 5,000 people. "Our union's hope is that this venture will give first hiring preference to former NUMMI employees who are already trained and highly skilled," said Gettelfinger.

Of course, a few thousand electric cars won't make up for the 400,000 Toyotas and Pontiacs that used to come out of that factory annually under the GM-Toyota joint venture, but it's a start. "The new Tesla factory will give us plenty of room to grow," said Chief Executive Elon Musk, without indicating whether UAW workers would get first dibs on newly created jobs.
Musk said Tesla will ramp up to about 1,000 jobs when it starts production in 2012.
Toyota's deal with Tesla ought to play well in Washington, too, where the carmaker is under siege for its handling of sudden acceleration complaints.
U.S. policy makers have been pushing electric-car technology as a way to reduce the nation's oil use and its dependence on foreign energy sources. By giving a hand up to an American maker of EVs, Toyota is furthering that objective."

Germany to Euro Shorts: “If you want to drain a swamp, you don’t ask the frogs for an objective assessment.” TNR.v, CZX.v, GBN.v, ASM.v, GRC.to,

Nothing is for certain, but our reversal in USD is well under way. With US Debt close to 13 Trillion all Euro situation is just an aberration in the History of US Dollar Collapse. US budget deficit is projected for years ahead to stay above 1 Trillion dollars with Gross Federal Debt well over 70% of GDP assuming it at 14 trillion, can you even imaging in U.S. German rules:

"Mr Schäuble also wants the other 15 members of the common currency to adopt a similar national law to the German debt guillotine, a law enshrined in the German constitution committing the government to a balanced budget, with a maximum structural budget deficit of just 0.35 per cent of GDP by 2016."

On a weekly chart US Dollar is very close to finish this week with a very strong Bearish reversal candle.

Do not burn your Euros yet, US Dollar was appreciating on Europe worries, but the weaker Euro is exactly what Europe needs in Competition for Export to Emerging markets and China first of all.

After pictures from Greece we do not think that anybody will go there in U.S. Corp. Deflation will be prevented by any means, it is easy and price to pay is not so obvious. Newly printed US Dollars are "free", but price to drop them is not: you need Oil to keep you helicopters flying and here will be our first conundrum: At what point price of Oil becomes prohibitive to use Helicopters by Ben Bernanke in his open market operations?
Here is time to move to practical implications of the new Inflation round to fight Deflation Scare this time created by sovereign default. How Lithium, Gold and price of Oil are connected and what it means to be grounded? We will start with Gold and will give you few observations:

FT:

Bundestag backs eurozone rescue

By Quentin Peel in Berlin
Published: May 20 2010 12:52 Last updated: May 21 2010 11:37
Germany’s lower house of parliament on Friday approved Berlin’s contribution to a €750bn stabilisation package for the eurozone.
After fraught talks with parties in the Bundestag on Thursday, it became clear that Angela Merkel, chancellor, would win a majority in favour of German credit guarantees of up to €150bn ($187bn, £130bn) from her centre-right coalition but fail to win cross-party support from the opposition Social Democrats and Greens.
The Bundestag passed the bill with 319 votes in favour, 73 against and 195 abstentions. The Bundesrat upper house is expected to pass the bill later on Friday.
Ms Merkel’s promises of tougher rules for the eurozone and action to curb speculation in the financial markets have been part of the price to win parliamentary support for the loan guarantees. A move to ban naked short-selling of eurozone debt was also seen in Berlin as a clear political gesture to win the parliamentary majority
On Thursday Ms Merkel stepped up pressure for a global agreement on tighter financial regulation, a banking tax or levy and a financial transaction tax, while spelling out the rules it wants members of the eurozone to adopt to curb their public debts and deficit spending.
George Osborne, UK chancellor, was separately expected to tell EU finance ministers in Brussels on Friday that Britain would resist attempts to improve economic governance that require a change to the European Union treaty.
The new UK government is committed to a referendum on any treaty that transfers new powers to Brussels. Mr Osborne has said he will oppose suggestions that he should show his Budget to the European Commission before presenting it to parliament.
Thomas De Maizière, Germany’s interior minister, said Berlin would increasingly seek to defend its own interest in the EU while shedding its role as passive paymaster. “Germany is going to act just as other European countries do in Brussels and this will not make it automatically anti-European,” he said.
Wolfgang Schäuble, finance minister, published a nine-point programme of proposals for more rigorous policing of the budgetary policies of eurozone members, including a proposal to draw up a procedure for “orderly state insolvencies” for countries that cannot service their debts.
Other points in his plan, to be presented on Friday at the first meeting of a task force in Brussels charged with rewriting the rules of the common currency area, include stripping countries of their votes if they persistently break stability and growth pact limits on deficit spending, and cutting them off from regional investment funds.
Mr Schäuble also wants the other 15 members of the common currency to adopt a similar national law to the German debt guillotine, a law enshrined in the German constitution committing the government to a balanced budget, with a maximum structural budget deficit of just 0.35 per cent of GDP by 2016.
Ms Merkel and Mr Schäuble are adamant that more action must be taken at the level of both the EU and the Group of 20 economies to regulate financial markets, in addition to adopting much more rigorous budget controls within the EU.
Ms Merkel called on financial institutions to give “honest advice” about how their activities should be regulated, warning they would face political measures to regulate the markets whatever happened.
Mr Schäuble appeared more sceptical. Challenged to defend Germany’s ban on naked short selling in light of the hostile reaction in the markets, the minister said: “If you want to drain a swamp, you don’t ask the frogs for an objective assessment.”
Additional reporting by Joshua Chaffin in Berlin and George Parker in London

Toyota Motor Corp. is buying a $50 million stake in electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc. TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LMR.v, WLC.v, CLQ.v, SQM, FMC, ROC, TTM,

It is a very significant development not only for Tesla, but for Toyota and EV mass market evolution. Tesla has gained more credibility with this move and it is all about Tesla S model mass production. Roadster was making headlines, but not sales numbers. Tesla S promised to be a 5 seater with more than 200 miles range and price tag of 50000USD. It will not be able to compete with Nissan Leaf at USD25000 after federal tax rebate, but it is the move into right direction. Now apart from Mercedes, Tesla can count on Toyota's expertise in safety, mass production and cost control. Toyota way into EV space is not straight forward, it is the case when actions are more significant than words and sometimes words could be misleading. Toyota announced last September that after years of research they do not see Lithium batteries as a commercial choice for Hybrids at the moment. Lithium juniors crashed with the news hitting the wires. After that surprisingly Toyota place on display a few advanced models of Hybrids and plug-ins with lithium batteries an Frankfurt Motor show 2009. Toyota engineers at the show were talking about clear advantage for use of Lithium batteries. Later 2009 Toyota trading house took a stake in upcoming Lithium developer Orocobre Resources with lithium brine salar in Argentina. Now they have quickly moved into Tesla buying the time and expertise on lithium battery side and controlling systems. It has happen just weeks after the usual bashing of EVs and that Hybrids are the only way in the future.

We were always wondering about Future of Energy and have collected some great memories on Uranium Run, Solar and Water plays. Gold Bull has years to run, but we are searching constantly for new Macro trends - it is very interesting to find out what will be the next Bull which will come out of these rubbles in case we are right and Inflation will be the answer to deflation war scenario. It is time for Lithium to come into picture.

Bloomberg:

"Toyota Buying Tesla Stake for Electric Car Tie-Up

May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, is buying a $50 million stake in the Californian electric-car maker Tesla Motors Inc. as automakers compete to offer low-polluting models in the U.S.
Tesla will also buy a closed Toyota joint-venture factory in California to build its Model S and other vehicles, Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said yesterday. The companies said they’ll cooperate in developing electric cars, parts, production systems and engineering support.
The deal may help Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, compete with Nissan Motor Co. and General Motors Co. in selling electric cars in the U.S., where regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency are pushing them to offer advanced vehicles. It may also help the Toyota City, Japan-based company’s image, battered by recalls, by reviving the New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. plant in Fremont, California, known as NUMMI.
“This seems like a good deal for both parties, especially Toyota, from being able to avoid the political fallout from shutting NUMMI down to being able to offer a new electric vehicle with just a low initial investment cost,” said Jeremy Anwyl, Chief Executive Officer at auto industry researcher Edmunds.com in Santa Monica, California.
Joining Daimler
The size of Toyota’s stake in Tesla hasn’t been fixed ahead of a share sale by Tesla, Musk said in an interview. Daimler AG in May 2009 invested about $50 million in Tesla, which is supplying battery packs to the Stuttgart, Germany-based company for a test fleet of electric Smart minicars.
In July, Daimler sold a portion of its share of Tesla to the German automaker’s largest investor, Aabar Investments PJSC, reducing its stake to about 5 percent.
Daimler “welcomed” Tesla’s partnership with Toyota, which “likewise has the goal of advancing electric vehicles,” said Brigitte Bertram, a Daimler spokeswoman for the automaker in Stuttgart, Germany. The Toyota-Tesla linkup “doesn’t impede” Daimler’s cooperation with the California automaker.
Toyota fell 1.9 percent to 3,355 yen in Tokyo, while Nissan dropped 3.4 percent and Honda Motor Co., Japan’s second-largest carmaker, declined 2.5 percent.
The tie-up brings Toyota, the world’s biggest seller of hybrid autos, together with Tesla, the only company now selling U.S. highway-legal battery-powered cars. Electric-car technology has been supported by U.S. policy makers including President Barack Obama as a way to reduce the nation’s oil use and dependence on foreign energy sources.
Obama set a goal of getting 1 million plug-in hybrids and electric cars on U.S. roads by 2015.
Nissan, GM
Nissan is preparing to introduce its Leaf electric hatchback, powered by a lithium-ion battery pack, in Japan and the U.S. this year. Nissan Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn has set a goal of leading sales of rechargeable vehicles, which he estimates may make up 10 percent of global auto demand by 2020, and is spending more than 500 billion yen ($5.5 billion) developing electric cars.
GM plans to introduce its Volt plug-in car in October. The car will initially be marketed to drivers in California, which requires large automakers to offer some vehicles that emit little or no tailpipe pollution.
Toyota intends to offer a short-range, “urban commuter” electric car in the U.S. in 2012 and begin retail sales of a plug-in Prius hybrid the same year.
Toyota, which will continue to develop its own electric vehicle, said Tesla’s long-distance models give the Japanese automaker more options. Toyota said hybrids should remain a more practical option for most customers until electric cars become more popular.
Share Sale
Palo Alto, California-based Tesla has 2,000 reservations for the Model S sedan and intends to begin “volume” production of the car in 2012, with a projected annual output of as much as 20,000 a year. The company has delivered about 1,000 of its $109,000 Roadster electric sports cars, while losing more than $230 million.
Tesla hasn’t posted a profit in the six years since it was founded. The company plans to use proceeds from an initial share sale and a $465 million government loan to help produce the Model S, an electric car that is to cost less than $50,000 after a federal tax credit.
Fund Raising
Tesla aims to raise about $100 million from its share sale and has said it may use proceeds to pay for factories and equipment estimated to cost as much as $125 million this year, and for acquisitions.
“I’ve felt an infinite possibility about Tesla’s technology,” said Akio Toyoda, chief executive officer of Toyota, founded by his grandfather. “By partnering with Tesla, my hope is that all Toyota employees will recall that ‘venture business’ spirit.”
The company is backed by investors including Mountain View, California-based Google Inc.’s co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and the government of Abu Dhabi. Daimler, the world’s second-biggest maker of luxury vehicles, invested last May. Tesla said Musk told Daimler about the Toyota partnership on May 19.
The revival of NUMMI, for 25 years a joint venture between Toyota and the former General Motors Co., will create 1,000 jobs, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said. The plant closed in April.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net Last Updated: May 21, 2010 05:57 EDT"