SK Energy to Focus on Oil Drilling, Batteries for Future Growth

Bloomberg Business Week

 

SK Energy Co., South Korea’s biggest refiner, said it will focus on producing oil and gas overseas, developing electric-car batteries and making petrochemicals with emissions-reduction technology to drive future earnings.

“The current business model may not be able to boost the company’s operating profit a lot from now,” Chief Executive Officer Koo Ja Young told reporters on June 18. “Innovations in the business model, and in technology, are needed.”

Refiners in South Korea, Asia’s largest fuel exporter, are seeking new growth engines as expanding Chinese and Indian suppliers cut profitability. SK Energy took the first step toward reorganizing in October by turning its lubricants division into a wholly owned unit.

“This is very positive in the long term,” said Cho Seung Yeon, an analyst at HMC Securities Co. “The reorganization will let each division focus resources on its own business while the parent boosts investment in new sectors.”

Starting next year, SK Energy will spin off petroleum and chemicals divisions that accounted for 98 percent of overall revenue in the first quarter. Ahead of the change, the refiner has completed its first electric-car battery production line to supply Daimler AG’s Japanese unit. SK Energy has also signed up for 38 oil and natural-gas projects in 17 countries.

The petroleum and chemicals divisions, as they start off as wholly owned units, may sell assets or form partnerships with overseas companies to raise funds, Koo said.

The petroleum division posted an operating loss for three consecutive quarters last year as the global financial crisis cut demand and China and India increased shipments.

New Growth Engines

SK Energy has fallen 11 percent in Seoul trading this year, compared with the 1.7 percent gain by the benchmark Kospi index. The stock closed unchanged at 104,500 won on June 18.

The company’s smaller rival GS Caltex Corp. bought an unlisted waste-treatment company in April, while S-Oil Corp. may seek opportunities in alternative energy.

SK Energy plans to start up a 30 billion won ($25 million) trial plant in October that can produce more olefins while emitting less carbon dioxide than current facilities, Koo said. The refiner is also developing technology to use carbon dioxide as a raw material for producing plastics, he said.

“The technologies will help SK Energy reach its target of 100 trillion won in revenue before 2020, up from 35 trillion won currently,” Koo said.

In energy exploration, the company is seeking rights to overseas projects and may acquire exploration companies, the chief executive said. SK Energy is producing 71,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day currently.

The chemicals division may build ethane-based ethylene plants in Latin America, including Peru and Colombia, Koo said at the company’s Daejeon research & development center. SK Energy has a stake in a gas project in Peru.

The company’s lubricants unit is in talks with a European company and an Asian company to form joint ventures, he said.

Afghanistan's Mineral Riches: It's about the Batteries

CTV News

 

As first reported in the New York Times, a team of Pentagon officials and U.S. geologists have identified nearly $1 trillion worth of mineral deposits in Afghanistan.

The most alluring of these are vast deposits of lithium that transfer the title of "the Saudi Arabia of lithium" away from Chile, where the Salar de Atacama was thought to contain 27 per cent of the world's known deposits of the mineral, and place it squarely on Afghanistan.

Why is lithium so important? Because it is the key material in the manufacture of the rechargeable batteries that power your Apple iPad, Research In Motion BlackBerry, insulin pump, Amazon Kindle, Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf.

But what if the world is approaching a glut of batteries? As part of the 2009 stimulus package, the Feds handed out $2 billion to manufacturers of batteries for "green" cars. By 2015 the factories will have the capacity to produce enough batteries for 15 million hybrids, or 1.5 million fully electric car batteries. The only way there will be enough buyers for all those cars is if oil prices soar and battery prices plunge.

Which might happen as improvements continue to be made to the traditional lithium-ion battery by researchers like A123's Yet-Ming Chiang and the team at IBM's Battery 500 Project, which hopes to use lithium-air to push a family of four 500 miles on one charge.

Aside from cost and weight, there's also a danger associated with lithium-ion batteries that might increase their costs even as the cost of production falls: transportation. The U.S. Department of Transportation is looking to enact a new rule that would classify the batteries as hazardous materials. If that rule doesn't pass, House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar (D–Minn.) would impose similar restrictions.

Electric Bikes on Display at Infineon

Mercury News

 

The question came early and often: "Excuse me, is this thing on?"

The answer was simple and silent as Kenyon Kluge sped his motorcycle down the straightaway at Infineon Raceway early this week. There was hardly a sound from the engine nor a sign of exhaust.

Look closely at the back of the bike and there's something missing.

There's no tailpipe.

This motorcycle is a zero-carbon, clean-emission electric prototype, one of a new generation of motorcycles designed for the city, highway and even off-road and race tracks.

"This is just the first step," said Jennifer Bromme, the rider and owner of San Francisco-based Werkstatt Racing and Repair.

Bromme and her crew hastily put together a team within the past month for this weekend's Time Trial Xtreme Grand Prix U.S. Championships, the first zero-carbon motorcycle race run in the United States.

The TTXGP is part of the West Coast Moto Jam at Infineon Raceway this weekend. Practice is today, with qualifying Saturday and an 11-lap feature race at 11 a.m. Sunday.

"The technology . . . it's really exciting to be part of something so new," Bromme said. "Everyone's experimenting. The development is incredible. There is room for really rapid growth."

Living and working near the epicenter of development for computer and alternative energy technologies, Bromme is convinced zero-carbon is the ride of the future.

"It's like mainframe computers or the Internet," Bromme said. "There will be a day when this is the standard. . . . There will be a place for internal combustion motorcycles, but they'll probably be considered vintage. I love vintage bikes, though. This won't happen right away, but in a few years."

The future is being crafted in shops and garages across the country — often on shoestring budgets. For the most part, these aren't university professors or NASA engineers pushing for new motorcycle technology. Bromme, Kluge and others learned their trade riding and working on race bikes.

"My regular gig is as an electrician. I worked for Zero Motorcycles and grabbed some spare parts," said Kluge, founder of K-Squared Racing. "I worked on a race bike to convert it. It took a little guess work. I combined my knowledge as an electrician and my experience working on bikes and it worked fine."

Kluge explained the difference between the two basic approaches to converting bikes to an electric motor. Both models have their trade-offs — a 300-pound motorcycle with lighter, smaller motorcycles batteries can reach speeds of 90 mph but might go farther. A 400-pound bike with a heavier battery can go faster — 120 mph, but might not be able to go as far before needing a recharge.

The typical street model can go 40 to 60 miles before it needs to be recharged and batteries can last up to seven years.

In a competitive environment, riders have to be concerned about speed and power consumption. After all, they can't recharge their batteries during a pit stop.

"It's interesting in a race. The fastest bike might not always be the first one across the finish line," said Bromme, whose bike has a KLM-based chassis powered by a lithium polymer battery pack.

TTXGP raced last year at the Isle of Man in Europe, where Chris Heath rode to an open-class victory for Oakland-based Electric Motorsport Inc's Native Racing. More than 10 race teams are expected to converge this weekend on the Sonoma Valley, including local entrants from San Francisco, Oakland, Sebastopol, San Mateo, Woodside, Palo Alto and Santa Rosa.

"The Bay Area is a building ground for alternative energy," Bromme said. "It's a matter of money. People don't want to spend so much on gas. We're always looking for new technology and this is a great way to promote it. The technology is finally catching up."

Electric Vehicle Owners Tout Benefits

Baltimore Sun

 

John Alder's 1991 Suzuki GSX 600 Katana motorcycle barely made a sound as it pulled out of his driveway Monday. That's because the Catonsville man converted it to run on an electric motorcycle battery.

But lack of noise is just one benefit, he says. Even better, there are fewer climate-warming emissions, and dependence on gasoline is eliminated. Alder charges the bike at home in his garage at night.

The front-yard demonstration was part of an effort by local electric-vehicle owners and environmentalists to draw attention to the positive impact of switching our car-loving nation to less-polluting options.

"I thought electric vehicles would be something we'd have by now," Alder said, explaining why he converted his bike, at a total cost of about $3,500, including the motorcycle. "It's just not happening."

Alder and others called on Congress to pass energy legislation that would promote the greener technology. The House of Representatives has passed a bill, but the effort has stalled in the Senate.

Environment Maryland, hosts of the Monday event, called on Maryland senators to urge the leadership to take a vote. The group also released a report called "Charging Ahead: Curbing Oil Consumption with Plug-In Cars" that outlines the potential benefits and how the switch would work.

The report says the current electric grid could fuel up to 73 percent of U.S. vehicles without building another power plant if the vehicles were charged at night or solar energy was used during the day.

Brad Heavner, state director of the environmental group, noted that many carmakers are beginning to roll out plug-in hybrids or fully electric cars, including the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and Toyota Prius. Operating costs are likely to be about 5 cents a mile, the report says.

But more federal backing is needed to push change faster, Heavner said.

"The catastrophe of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is making it more clear than ever that we need to work harder to reduce our dependence on oil," he said. "The U.S. Senate must pass a comprehensive global warming bill that caps emissions and invests in clean energy options, including electric vehicle technology."

He was backed by the Maryland League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club, as well as state Dels. James E. Malone Jr. and Steven J. DeBoy Sr., Baltimore County Democrats. The lawmakers plan to work with homeowners associations on legislation in the next year to allow residents without garages to use extension cords to plug in electric cars – one of the logistical issues associated with the plug-ins. Other issues include the relatively high price to buy the vehicles, lack of a network of charging stations and the limits of their batteries.

Robert Neighbour of Laurel, who in January traded in his Pontiac Fiero that he had converted to battery power for a manufacturer-produced all-electric Toyota RAV4, said such vehicles still have speed and distance limitations. He and Alder said they expect that to change as the technology advances.

"But I haven't bought a tank of gas since October of last year," Neighbour said.

Exide to Boost Battery Capacity on Motorcycle Demand

Bloomberg / Business Week

 

Exide Industries Ltd., India’s largest maker of automotive batteries, plans to spend as much as 4 billion rupees ($88 million) to add capacity as demand for motorcycles outstrips the company’s expectations.

Exide, based in Kolkata, plans to boost motorcycle battery capacity by as much as 60 percent by April to cater to customers such as Hero Honda Motors Ltd., Managing Director T.V. Ramanathan said.

Motorcycle sales in India, the world’s largest two-wheeler market after China, surged to a record in the year ended March as economic growth and rising salaries encouraged Indians to increase spending. Demand for automobiles has helped Exide lift earnings by an average 92 percent in the past four quarters.

“Everyone underestimated the income transfer to rural areas,” Ramanathan said in an interview yesterday. The increase in the number of outsourcing centers in smaller cities is also helping create demand for motorcycle and motor scooter batteries from younger Indians, he said.

The company’s shares, which have risen 2.3 percent this year, fell 0.3 percent to 118 rupees in Mumbai at 1:47 p.m. in Mumbai. Exide in March raised about $119 million selling shares to institutional investors.

Exide’s fourth-quarter profit almost doubled to 1.35 billion rupees, sales increased 29 percent to 10.3 billion rupees.     “Right now they are operating at more than 90 percent utilization level, and looking at auto demand the expansion is needed,” said Vaishali Jajoo, an analyst at Angel Broking Ltd. in Mumbai. “They have a huge opportunity to grow as auto demand will continue to grow for the next five to ten years.”

Relationships

India’s $1.2 trillion economy may expand 8.5 percent in the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on May 13, spurring demand for motorcycles, scooters, refrigerators and homes.

The company, which sells the SF Sonic and Exide brands, expects to increase battery sales to original equipment manufacturers to 90 percent from 70 percent to improve its relationship with the companies, Ramanathan said. Direct sales to manufacturers are low in profitability, he said.

San Francisco Startup to Mine Lithium for Batteries

Mining Weekly

Many new lithium entrants as electric cars, consumer goods drive demand

 

When the global recession spilled like hot coffee on the collective lap of consumers worldwide, sales of luxury goods spiralled downwards, dragging lithium demand with them.

The lithium market is dominated by industrial applications such as ceramics and glass, laptop and cellphone batteries, greases, aluminium production, air treatments, thermoplastic production, and that newest of automotive thrills, the electric car.

Demand for most of these applications dimmed in 2009 and, consequently, lithium uptake also decreased, says US Geological Survey beryllium, gallium and lithium commodity specialist Brian Jaskula.

“There is currently an oversupply of lithium due to the economic downturn that began in 2008,” he says.

In 2009, worldwide lithium production decreased some 30% from that of 2008, while worldwide lithium consumption decreased by 15% to 20%.”

Despite the global economy now inching out of intensive care, as well as burgeoning demand from electric vehicle developers and for laptop computer batteries, Jaskula believes it will take some time for the lithium market to return to 2008 levels.

That said, lithium-ion batteries used in transportation applications provide hope for a sturdy recovery, as it is set to be the fastest-growing end use for lithium during the next decade, he adds.

SQM (Sociedad Quimica y Minera), of Chile, currently the largest lithium producer in the world, and Roskill Information Services both estimate this end use to grow at a compound annual growth rate of more than 40% during the next decade.

However, warns Jaskula, “even with this huge growth rate expected in the trans- portation area, lithium demand is not anticipated to outstrip supply by 2020, because all of the current lithium producers have a series of lithium capacity expansion plans in place that should meet any demand scenario”.

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

The list of global lithium producers is topped by Chile (45%), followed by Australia (23%), Argentina and China, leaving the fifth spot to the US, where there is currently only one lithium producer.

Lithium for batteries comes mainly from South America and China, while lithium minerals used for the glass and ceramics industry are sourced predominately from Australia.

The four dominant corporate producers are SQM (Chile), FMC (Argentina), Chemetall (Chile) and Talison Lithium (Australia), with several projects under development by emerging lithium miners.

In a January 2010 presentation, SQM said that the recession-hit lithium capacity utilisation rate worldwide was only 57%, and that this was expected to increase to 66%, owing to demand recovery and other foreseen capacity expansions.

The worldwide utilisation rate was expected to remain lower than 75% until 2020 – con-sidering only current producers’ capacity expansion plans.

SQM believed the lithium market would remain well supplied over the next 15 years by the current lithium producers.

By including the capacity of potential new entrants, SQM said, the worldwide lithium capacity utilisation rate would remain below 55% until 2020.

In such a scenario, SQM warned, the lithium market would move to a situation of oversupply over the next 20 years.

However, says Jaskula, “there are others in the industry that believe Western-based lithium analysts have completely under- estimated the potential lithium demand from Asia, especially China, which may provide lucrative markets for emerging lithium producers”.

Jaskula says the official energy policy in China is that 10% of cars will be emission-free electric vehicles by 2013, and 20% of power will come from renewable resources by 2020. (To support renewable energy, battery storage is necessary, and batteries require lithium.)

“It was projected that there will be 80- million electric two-wheeled vehicles worldwide (mostly in Asia) by 2016,” notes Jaskula.

Well-entrenched lithium-miner Talison Lithium agrees with Jaskula and SQM on where demand will come from, but CEO Peter Oliver notes that “everyone has a different forecast for how demand will grow”.

Talison Lithium mines and processes lithium-bearing mineral spodumene at Green-bushes, near Perth, in Western Australia. (The shareholders of Talison withdrew a proposed initial public offering in December owing to weak market conditions leading up to Christmas and year-end.)

Roskill Information Services estimated lithium supply in 2008 at about 121 364 t lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), says Oliver.

Consultants are forecasting 10% to 20% penetration rates by 2020 for electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles.

This could represent an increase in demand of up to 286 000 t LCE.

“Therefore, demand for lithium is expected to grow,” says Oliver. “However, the rate of increase in demand depends entirely upon what assumptions are used for rates of growth in energy storage systems and electric vehicles.”

Major automotive manufacturers are currently tooling up for the mass production of hybrid and electric vehicles, he adds.

Japanese vehicle manufacturer Nissan has started taking orders for its Leaf electric car.

Another Japanese manufacturer, Mitsubishi, has announced that it is lowering the price of the Mitsubishi iMiev electric car to match the pricing of the Nissan Leaf. The company has also announced that it intends to increase iMiev production to meet demand.

The first electric vehicles are also to hit US streets later this year.

Tru Group president Edward Anderson says that lithium use in batteries has been one of the major drivers of lithium demand since the rechargeable lithium-ion battery was invented in the early nineties, with the use of these rechargeable batteries in consumer electronics such as cell phones and laptops key to much of the growth since 2002.

Batteries accounted for about 14% of total lithium consumption in 2007.

“Further global proliferation of consumer electronics and the potential for electric vehicle batteries will push this proportion to almost 40% by 2020,” says Anderson.

He believes electric car battery use will start to take off in 2015, which will influence lithium consumption sharply.

However, should there indeed be a healthy uptake in demand for these electric vehicles, it does not necessarily ensure an easy entry for emerging lithium producers.

Oliver believes that the four current lithium producers have each been in production for more than 20 years, and that they all have the ability to expand their current production capacity to meet demand forecasts.

For example, Talison expanded its production capacity and output during 2009, and has plans to further increase production over the next few years.

“None of the development projects currently being promoted have completed development, permitting, financing, construction or commissioning. Nor have any of these projects fully developed the sales, marketing and distribution networks necessary to sell their products. As with any development project, there are con- siderable risks associated with development, permitting, financing, construction and commissioning, and there is no guarantee that any of these development projects will achieve commercial production.

“If some of these development projects are successful, they will contribute to supply,” says Oliver.

Jaskula waves a red flag on a possible over-supply-price-pressure scenario.

He warns that, if some of the development projects currently in the pipeline start producing lithium in the near term, adding to the production of lithium by current suppliers, then there may be an oversupply of lithium in the next decade.

This could drag down prices, potentially pushing some emerging producers out of the market “since the reduced lithium price may then be lower than their production costs”.

The lithium price is already under pressure.

Although demand dropped last year, 2009 lithium prices remained at levels similar to those of 2008, However, in late 2009, SQM announced that it would reduce its lithium prices by 20% for all contracts written in 2010.

Other lithium producers have not yet announced any price decreases for 2010, says Jaskula.

EMERGING PRODUCERS SAY ELECTRIC CAR IS ANSWER TO DEMAND

Canada Lithium, sporting an electric vehicle on its home page, is an emerging lithium producer.

Investor relations director Olav Svela says the company is upbeat about the demand for the commodity.

“Our own projections suggest supply will reach approximately 185 000 t in 2015, and that demand will likely be higher than that, given the projected growth in demand due to electric car and motorcycle batteries.

“We think that even with new producers coming on stream, or expansion by existing producers, lithium prices will rise.”

Svela says he believes the North American company’s work carries more importance than merely speaking to a pure supply-demand situation.

“US President Barack Obama says he does not want an Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries-style cartel controlling the lithium industry. That is why we view our project as strategic to US interests because we are in mining-friendly Canada.”

Canada Lithium has initiated a prefeasibility study on its Quebec lithium project, near Val d’Or.

“We plan to be commissioning the mine and the processing plant by 2012,” says Svela.

Western Lithium is another emerging lithium producer and is developing its Nevada lithium deposit, in the US, to support what it says is “the new generation of hybrid/ electric vehicles”.

Western Lithium president Jay Chmelauskas tells Mining Weekly that the electric car has “the potential to completely change the nature of the lithium industry”.

He says a growing number of automotive industry leaders and analysts expect at least 10% to 25% of vehicles to be electrically powered in some way by 2020.

“An automotive market with 10% electric vehicles and 25% hybrid vehicles is estimated to require around 300 000 t of battery grade lithium carbonate per year,” says Chmelauskas.

“To put that into perspective, that is three times the size of the entire lithium market at present and 15 times the amount of battery-grade lithium carbonate that is being made today.

“We expect additional production to come on line over the next several years to match the development of the electric vehicle. Some of that is expected to come from current producers; however, we expect to see additional projects from outside the current geographic- ally concentrated supply base, which will also mitigate some of the political, social and geographical concentration present in the existing supply structure.”

Chmelauskas says Western Lithium’s project in Nevada, scheduled for full production in 2014, “is very well timed to take advantage of the projected demand upswing, and is particularly well suited to the just-in-time manufacturing culture of the automotive industry. Our production brings geographic diversity, is scalable and has significant flexibility in both quantity and quality.”

Western Lithium has one of the world’s largest known lithium deposits.

Developing it is a scalable project, with 8% of the historical deposit scheduled for development in the first stage and potential production of 27 700 t of lithium carbonate a year, and with a potential by-product of 115 000 t of potassium sulphate a year.

Cash operating costs are estimated at $1 967/t of lithium carbonate, after the potassium sulphate by-product credit.

“Following a positive scoping study released earlier this year, we are now proceeding with further engineering and pilot plant studies to advance the project to prefeasibility,” says Chmelauskas.

“We are in discussions with major lithium buyers to define product quality specifications, long-term supply requirements, and we expect to work with these groups through the piloting programme.”

SCRAMBLE TO SECURE SUPPLY

As of 2008 – the latest date available for worldwide consumption data – Roskill estimates that China and Europe are the largest consumers of lithium, each accounting for about 28% of total consumption.

Japan and North America (13%) are the next biggest consumers.

The US is the world’s largest importer of lithium carbonate, which it converts into downstream products, or into lithium hydroxide, for the export market.

As lithium is used in batteries for cellphones and laptops, and in new-generation electric cars and defence vehicles, it has morphed into a strategic source of energy.

“As with other commodities such as oil, iron-ore and copper, Japan and China are trying to secure long-term supply of other commodities important to their industrial growth,” notes Oliver.

“If the forecast growth in electric and hybrid vehicles materialises, then lithium may also become a strategic commodity.”

Chmelauskas believes that lithium is increasingly viewed as a strategic resource, and specifically to support the large-scale investments being made in the electric vehicle sector.

“Auto manufacturers and large-scale suppliers to that industry realise that the lithium-dependent sector of their end market – electric/hybrid automobiles, cell phones, computers – could easily generate revenues of $300-billion a year by 2020 and, so, are looking ahead to secure reliable supplies. We are starting to see countries and com- panies making investments today to ensure a stable and diversified supply of high- quality lithium.”

“Some countries do seem to be scrambling to secure supply,” concurs Jaskula. “Japan has struck deals with Argentina and possibly Bolivia. Canada is staking many mining claims, both inside and outside of Canada.”

He says last year turned out to be quite a boom year for lithium exploration, as there was a “huge increase in the number of potentially emerging lithium producers worldwide since 2008”.

As of January this year, more than a hundred companies are actively looking for lithium, with 68 of these companies being Canadian.

Jaskula says 144 new properties have been staked or claimed and are being evaluated.

“Some of these new companies are already fully financed and carry no debt, as their investors believe lithium may be the next gold rush.”

There are many companies staking claims in the US in anticipation of obtaining lithium from both mineral and brine sources, adds Jaskula.

Hectorite clays and geothermal brines are also being explored.

“Western Lithium is currently developing a lithium-rich hectorite clay operation and is making good progress.

“Geothermal brines located in southern California and throughout the world are generally rich in lithium, as well as other profitable industrial minerals. Simbol Mining is exploring the viability of obtaining lithium from geothermal waste streams generated by California’s Mammoth Lakes geothermal plant.”

In Africa, Zimbabwe, Niger, Namibia, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire have known lithium deposits.

Jaskula is, perhaps, more cautious in his long-term market outlook than the various mining companies.

“There is more than enough economically obtainable lithium available in the short to medium term to meet the needs of lithium for hybrid and electric vehicles, no matter what the future demand is from these vehicles. In the long term, once recycling of lithium vehicle batteries has reached its cost-effective stride, approximately 20 to 30 years from now, the primary source of lithium from then on will be from recycling, and not from virgin lithium sources.

“Also, lithium battery chemistry development is in an extremely dynamic phase right now, with each new generation of battery chemistry offering more power, lower cost, greater driving distances, and lower lithium requirements than the [previous] battery chemistry.”

ALLOYS OFFER ANOTHER DEMAND BOON
Anderson expects another “breakthrough for lithium” to be the adoption of lithium metal in alloy production.

“An addition of 1% of lithium to aluminium results in a 3% reduction in weight and a 5% increase in stiffness. This offers quite an advantage in aerospace. We see these alloys have now already been adopted, even for structural uses in mainstream commercial aircraft like Airbus and Boeing.”

Anderson says this means the long-term lithium use in alloy production will become “quite major, following a strikingly similar adoption curve over time [to that for] batteries”.

He expects demand from this market to take up 10% of lithium supply in 2020.

Putting an Old-School Joules on an Electric Enfield

WIRED

The Volta 102 is not your typical motorcycle. But James Hammarhead is not your typical motorcycle builder.

Hammarhead is a clinical neuropsychologist and expert in fMRI paradigm design. When he isn’t doing research at University of Pennsylvania, you’ll find him riding or wrenching on an old-school motorcycle. He’s got a thing for British bikes and usually has a project in the works.

That passion for vintage iron led him to launch Hammarhead Industries, a boutique builder creating retro British bikes with a twist.

And, in one case, a cord.

The Volta 102 that Hammarhead built in just three months is one in a growing field of electric street bikes but the first to go retro.

The old-school aesthetic in sportbike parts follows Hammarhead Industries’ mission statement, which comes down to “keep it simple, stupid.” Hammarhead isn’t interested in fuel injection or ABS or carbon fiber components. His love affair with minimalism was cemented riding a Royal Enfield through India. The bike was elemental and irresistable.

“That sealed it,” he says. “I decided I was interested in going into smaller, more simple bikes.”

The Volta started as a 2005 Royal Enfield Bullet 500, a modern take on a ’50s classic. It was ideal because the simple steel frame was roomy enough for an electric drivetrain. The Bullet’s engine is a stressed member, so Hammarhead had to fabricate a subframe, but the conversion was straightforward.

“I wanted to do it as a a vintage conversion,” he says of the Volta. “The thing about vintage bikes that makes them so attractive is they’re simple, they’re robust and they’re durable. And that is just as green as alternative fuel.”

The Volta uses an EnerTrac hub motor. It makes 10 kilowatts (13.4 horsepower) continuous and 30 kilowatts (40 horsepower) peak. That’s a big jump over the Bullet’s 18 ponies. Both the Volta and the Bullet weigh 368 pounds, so the conversion made the bike faster. The motor is, in theory, capable of 118 mph. Hammarhead is shooting for somewhere around 100.

You’d think the unsprung weight of a 45-pound motor would bugger the handling. But Hammarhead says it isn’t an issue “because we’re not at the edge of the performance envelope.” The motor was designed for motorcycles and scooters, so durability isn’t a concern, says Mark Gelbien, the guy who designed it.

The lithium iron-phosphate battery pack is rated at 6 kilowatts. It has 32 cells but can take as many as 36 to increase range or power. Hammarhead says it’s good for 50 to 70 miles, depending upon how hard you’re flogging the bike. The fake fuel tank houses two 110-volt, 15-amp chargers that will charge the battery in four hours. An external charger drawing 110 volts at 20 amps does it in two.

Regenerative braking returns energy to the battery pack, and you can dial it in anywhere from 10 to 90 percent. Hammarhead says the system “works and feels like engine braking.” Hammarhead built the bike with off-the-shelf parts to ensure reliability.

“The first goal was making it robust,” he says. “We didn’t want bleeding-edge technology.”

He’s taken the Volta out for a few runs through Philadelphia and says the bike “is a blast to ride. It is nearly silent and has that ‘lazy’ handling of the [internal combustion] Enfield.”

Hammarhead unveiled the Volta, along with the Woodsman 500 and Jack Pine, April 16 at a gallery in Philadelphia. The Jack Pine, a riff on the Triumph Scrambler, got the most attention but the Volta got some love too. The first Volta is a prototype that Hammarhead is still refining, but he plans to build as many as three more this year and five next year.

They aren’t cheap at $18,500 and Hammarhead knows the Volta is a niche bike. That’s the point. He says filling a niche will be the only way to survive once the big manufacturers make the startups building electric superbikes and dirtbikes irrelevant.

“This will all be moot when Honda and Yamaha and KTM introduce their electric bikes,” he said. “And they will. They’re waiting for the market to turn, and it will.”

Hammarhead is planning a more conventional electric motorcycle with an upright riding position. He’s also kicking around the idea of a biodiesel bike. He’ll always love retro rides but says alt fuel is the future.

“I’m passionate about all motorcycles,” he says. “But the future of our sport, and our industry, is in bikes that  use efficient motorcycle batteries, bikes that are quiet and bikes that use alternative fuels.”

Hammarhead is a mashup of his last name and his wife’s last name, and he goes by his given name James Loughead in the academic world.

Mission Motors Launches the Mission One Motorcycle

Fast Company

The Mission One motorcycle is undeniably sexy. With a design by Yves Béhar and a top speed of 150 miles per hour, it's meant to drop jaws. (At $68,995, it should.) But Mission Motors, which is now taking reservations for the bike and is slated to start delivery in mid-2011, has another goal in mind: to show off technology that it believes can easily be transferred to all manner of electric vehicles. "It's always much easier to take a technology down and make sportbike parts cheaper," says CEO Jit Bhattacharya. "Our strategy from the start was to push the limits of what was possible and then to find the right partners for that technology."

Because all EVs basically boil down to a battery pack, a motor, a controller, and the cartilage to link them, Bhattacharya believes the Mission One's innovations in power management, space savings, and design will be widely applicable to other vehicles. Those of us without $70,000 for a motorcycle can only hope he's right.
The Seat:

Béhar created a seat that cantilevers high above the rear wheel, to visually emphasize the lack of exhaust pipes. The triangular grating echoes the shape of the battery frames within.
 

The Face:
"I wanted to create visual continuity," says Béhar, "from the face of the bike to the back, headlight to taillights." He integrated the LED headlight into the face of the bike, which has a stealth bomber's faceted look, softened by smooth, fluid lines that run the length of the motorcycle.
 

The Batteries:

The bike's heaviest components are spread throughout the body to mimic a motorcycle's typical weight distribution. The hundreds of motorcycle battery cells are monitored individually to improve battery life.
 

The Cooling System:
Heat buildup can sap both motor and battery efficiency. A liquid cooling system runs throughout the motor and the controller.
 

The Controller:

This device sends power from battery to motor using a number of individual switches controlled by complex algorithms to maximize motor performance.

Battery Maker ReVolt wins $5 Million Grant for Portland Plant

Oregon Live

Swiss battery maker ReVolt Technology has received a $5 million U.S. government grant that will help the company launch a planned Portland manufacturing and research center.

Vice President Joe Biden announced $106 million in stimulus grants Thursday for 37 energy-research projects, including ReVolt's plan to develop a high-energy battery for plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles. "Thanks to the Recovery Act," Biden said, "dozens of cutting-edge research projects with the potential to dramatically transform how we use energy in this country will now be able to get under way."

ReVolt managers chose Portland last year for their U.S. headquarters, saying they would ultimately hire about 250 people. They now expect to pick a location and have most of the U.S. team in place by October, said James McDougall, ReVolt's chief executive.

ReVolt is developing zinc batteries packing more punch than conventional models made of compounds such as lithium-ion. In the federally funded project, ReVolt will develop a large zinc-air flow car battery for plug-in vehicles, U.S. Energy Department officials said. U.S. Rep. David Wu, D-Ore., helped create the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, which will issue the grants announced Thursday.

Obama Ramps up Electric Car Battery Grants

USA Today

 

 

As the Obama administration gears up for Energy legislation, the focus has been on doling out research money to try to keep America in the fight to produce the next generation of batteries that will power electric cars.

For instance, Vice President Joseph Biden visited a company called UQM Technologies near Boulder, Colo., Friday that won a $45 million grant under the stimulus bill to increase production of propulsion systems for electric cars. UQM works with Coda Automotive, a Santa Monica, Calif., company that hopes to sell electric cars next year. That's the Coda car in the photo above.

The administration just doled out another $106 for energy research projects including a bunch for electric car batteries. After all the talk about how electric vehicles will be powered by lithium-ion batteries, what struck Drive On was the wide array of battery chemistry that is being researched. They include:

    * Lithium-sulfer. Sion Power Co. in Tucson was given a $5 million grant to see if it can develop a car battery that can go 300 miles between charges.

    * Zinc flow air. A slurry form of zinc would be stored in a tank and transmitted through a tube to charge and discharge a battery. ReVolt Technology of Portland, Ore., received a $5 million grant.

    * Lithium-air. Another $5 million to PolyPlus Battery of Berkeley, Calif., to develop an automotive battery that has the energy density of gasoline.

    * Magnesium-ion. Pellion Technologies of Menlo Park, Calif., would develop a cheap battery using this technology with its $3.2 million grant.

    * Advanced lithium-ion. The next generation of the lithium-ion battery that would be low-cost and ultra-high in energy density through this $4.3 million going to Applied Materials in Santa Clara, Calif.

    * Solid state lithium. Planar Energy Devices of Orlando will get $4 million to explore an ultra-high density, long-cycle battery that uses inorganic materials and solid-state electrolytes.

Want Electric Cars en Masse? Rethink Warranties

Business Week

Separating out ownership and warranties of the batteries may be the key to making electric cars affordable 

For an electric vehicle owner and a utility, a dream scenario for charging vehicles at the lowest possible cost might go something like this: EV batteries draw juice from the grid when demand and electricity rates are low and feed energy back into the grid when demand peaks. That give-and-take could deliver lower electricity bills for consumers and a more stable grid for the utility.

The third factor in this equation, the carmaker, could struggle in this scenario unless the current structure of vehicle ownership and warranties is changed, said Joby Lafky, senior director of business development and partnerships for smart charging startup GridPoint, at a seminar on vehicle-to-grid technology hosted by Agrion on Apr. 7 in Palo Alto, Calif.

The EV industry needs to consider alternative ownership schemes for the battery and to "reexamine what it means to warranty a battery pack," said Lafky. Automakers today typically offer "an odometer-based warranty," he said. If electric vehicle batteries—the most expensive part of the car—are used to provide grid services, the battery will deplete due to all the charging and discharging, not just mileage. So if the battery gets used up faster, and it's within the warranty period, the automaker could get stuck paying to replace it.

Short Useful Life

While the bulk of an electric vehicle may have just as much longevity and durability as conventional models, today's batteries are widely expected to degrade down to 80% of their original storage capacity (and thus reach the end of their useful life in electric cars) after only about eight years on the road. Outside of the vehicle, batteries can hold value long after those eight years.

By offering the battery under a separate leasing agreement, an automaker could have car buyers pay for only the small percentage of the value they're getting (the car minus the expensive battery)—as long as the automaker has a mechanism in place to reclaim the battery after its useful life in the vehicle and reap its "residual value" in secondary markets. However, rolling the battery pack into one contract with the vehicle—rather than covering it under a separate warranty agreement or potentially leasing it separately from the car—could deliver higher warranty costs for the automaker and a higher sticker price for consumers.

Alec Brooks, a renewable energy engineer at Google who previously directed vehicle technology for Tesla Motors, said that ancillary services (such as switching directions between charging and discharging) won't necessarily take a significantly greater toll on battery life than the wear and tear of simply driving the car.

Potential Value Streams

Even so, Lafky isn't the only one who sees shifting ownership and battery warranties as a key to paving the way to more affordable, mainstream electric vehicles that help—rather than hurt—the power grid.

According to Tom Gage, CEO of AC Propulsion, the "most fertile area for development in this whole space is the battery." Regardless of the size, shape, or chemistry that upcoming generations of batteries take on, however, he noted three potential value streams for the device: transportation; grid services while it's in the car; and secondary markets (after useful life in the vehicle). Part of the challenge, said Gage, is to strike the right balance among these three uses in a way that maximizes "extraction of these value streams over the life of the car."

Brett Williams, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California's Berkeley Transportation Sustainability Research Center, added that the introduction of a viable "novel ownership structure," which could be "battery leasing in a simple form," could represent the tipping point for electric vehicles in the mass market.

Nissan's Strategy

Leasing the battery pack separately from the vehicle is a route that Nissan once considered for its upcoming LEAF electric sedan (Mark Perry, who heads Nissan's product planning and strategy for North America, will be speaking on our New Networked Car panel at Green:Net. Offering the battery pack under a separate financing agreement could allow an automaker such as Nissan to take a significant chunk out of the sticker price of an electric model, potentially helping it compete with more affordable conventional vehicles.In February the automaker announced it would take the more conservative path of offering the car and battery under a "single transaction."

Electric vehicle infrastructure startup Better Place, meanwhile, plans to buy hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of batteries to "swap" into vehicles owned by subscribers, who in theory will pay Better Place for mileage plans the way cell-phone users pay for minutes.

Hypothetically, at least, if all the players and industries can come together, novel alternatives to consumer ownership of car batteries "would really accelerate everything," said Williams. "At a very minimum, you've got to have an ownership structure that lets you see that value throughout the whole product."

Kraus-Anderson Building $117M Florida Battery Recycling Plant

Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal

Kraus-Anderson Construction Co. has begun work on a $117 million battery recycling plant in Florida for Gopher Resource Corp., the company said Thursday.

The 309,733-square-foot lead battery recycling plant in Tampa will be operated by EnviroFocus Technologies, a Gopher Resource subsidiary, and is expected to create 120 jobs, Minneapolis-based Kraus-Anderson said in a news release.

Kraus-Anderson said the facility, one of only 13 of its kind nationwide, is expected to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certified upon its completion in 2012.

About 50,000 lead batteries per day will be recycled at the plant, with most of the high-quality lead reclaimed and refined for new automotive and industrial batteries.

Kraus-Anderson has built three LEED Gold-certified buildings in St. Paul, Bloomington and Lino Lakes, plus 27 other LEED projects elsewhere in the nation.