As a friend put it, Valence is playing to win, while ULBI is playing 'not to lose.' The sheer amount of investment of capital by Valence into all aspects of the R+D, not just for fundamental technology but also in every aspect of production, dwarfs the investment by ULBI. This is evidenced by the relative sizes of their patent portfolios, among other things.
Valence also has control of every aspect of production, including in-house chemical mixing. To my knowledge, ULBI does not do that, but like others, relies on outside sources. Valence found that 'getting it right' began at the front end. This may be key to attaining high yields (already at 68% for their first production run, and reasonably expected to exceed 80% soon, as they tweak the process when running in continuous mode).
Further, the economies of scale that Valence has in place will result in better profit margins. The capital has been spent, the factory is near completion for the current 4 lines in place, and a much faster, newer technology 5th line coming the end of this year.
I'm excited by the progress they've made, compared to this time last year. There are many lags in the system, making the actual progress with OEMs less visible than investors would like. But we've every reason to expect that by this time next year, there will be multiple products in the marketplace containing Valence batteries, and this fact will be well known by consumers and the investment community. It will also be reflected in the stock price. Picking up shares here at these prices, for a long-term investment horizon, has much less risk than a year ago at half the price. IMHO.
Regards, Rich |
