http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14754174 link above with the latest on the EV front...lots of info on all kinds of subjects...but one thing that was mentioned that was unpublished previously the launch for the CityZenn (using the eestor tech...will do 80 mph, 250 mile range) is still fall 2009 BUT initial launch will be in Europe, then Asia, then South America.... US launch as of yet STILL UNDETERMINED cant tell you how much that messes up my plans.
i guess, but estimate of a price "in the low 20's" does sound very attractive...add on perks, if its $25,000 i am all over it....hopefully the market expansion will be quick. being based in Canada, i would hope that they would start at home and spread out first. i wonder if safety regs are playing any part?
From what I've read, Zenn is releasing first in Europe because the certification process is "faster" there. It is kind of strange though. The US welcomes the NEC Zenn and Canada won't allow it, but when it comes to the "highway-version" apparently US procedures are more strict.
Anybody really believe they can market the City Car one year from now, when the key component (the EEStor ultra-capacitor) doe not even exist yet? Let's see: Actually invent the capacitor, test it, design the machinery for mass production, build the production facility, and mass produce the capacitors in time to install them in a car for fall 2009??? And even in Europe they'll have to do safety testing, even if it's less strict than the U.S. I think ultra-capacitors may very well be the future. But I think it's silly to think they're going to be able to market a car with them in a year from now, when they still have not actually built a prototype of the capacitor.
ultracaps are here and have been for years. the only thing eestor is really doing is increasing the density by making the parts of the cap smaller, then putting it into a much larger package. the technology exists and has existed for quite some time... only the ability to reliably mass produce the technology has been lacking. the ultracap has to be manufactured with nano scale tolerances. up to now, the ability to accurately reproduce the particles on this scale has been the sticking point. as well all know, having a prototype is no guarantee of a marketable product at an affordable price. there are actually now several unversities and companies pursuing this angle since eestor's announcement and other breakthroughs of varying degrees have been announced which may only validate that eestor is on the right track.
We may only be arguing about terminology. By "ultra-capacitor" I am referring to capacitors with high enough capacitance to make the announced Zenn City Car possible. I am not aware of a capacitor with high enough capacitance ever having been demonstrated. But even if the only hurdle is mass producing them, that is not a trivial task, and to announce that a car will be marketed in one year, with such a hurdle still unresolved, is in my opinion dishonest. We are agreed that this is a very real possibility, and a great hope for the future of electric cars. We only disagree concerning what is a realistic time line for the introduction of a mass-produced car onto the market.
well, the announcement made was supposedly in order to resolve the major "unresolved" issue concerning the process. unfortunately, since that announcement, all information on the next steps to be taken or accomplished, has not been forthcoming. i would love info on the expected or at least, hoped for timetable for manufacturing, testing, vehicle prototype, etc... now the vehicle thing is really a non-issue as i understand it, the vehicle is ready to be built and has been for a while, just waiting on the power pack. in fact, both companies have pretty much gone into a non-disclosure mode. now is this in response to several other entities that have also started to develop similar technologies?/ U of Az comes to mind, or is it that things have not developed as they had hoped? dont know...with eestor being a private company, getting any info on them has been difficult.
EEStor may be on the level. But it fits a business plan that makes for a very good scam, and its secrecy makes me suspicious. Universal scam plan: Find an idea for something that everybody wants very badly, and which would require a big technological breakthrough, but which still seems plausible, and is theoretically possible. (This rules out perpetual motion machines like the water-for-gas scam.) If you are a smooth talker with sufficient charisma, you can convince people to invest big bucks in your plan. You set up a plant, hire researchers, give them a budget, and pay yourself a six-figure salary. You keep going as long as you can get people to give you money. When it finally collapses you've had some years of a really big salary and you've done nothing illegal. No pyramids; no provable fraud. You were a research company and you did research until your company went bankrupt through no fault of yours when it failed to solve the admittedly difficult problems of the technology. I have no way of knowing if this is what EEStor is doing, or if they are legitimate. But until they actually solve the technological problems, they have no product. And without a product, it is disingenuous at best, and dishonest at worst, to announce a fixed date for the Zenn City Car to be in showrooms for sale.
