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Microcap & Penny Stocks : BAAT - world records for electric vehicles with zinc-air -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: TheAlaskan who wrote (2471)3/6/1998 12:41:00 PM
From: kennbill  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 6464
 
Alaskan:
As always your insights are appreciated. Sounds like NOW is the make or break time for the PR guys. Seems like BAAT is well aware of the domestic resistance and for that reason seems to be targeting European markets, to establish the initial recognition there and then push for the domestic market.

May by a good plan since, as you note, its the foreign manufacturers that have been building some of the fuel efficient models for the domestic markets.

Please make comments. Thanks.



To: TheAlaskan who wrote (2471)3/6/1998 3:15:00 PM
From: don roberson  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 6464
 
News Item. Take a look at the engine FORD says they will be concentrating on. CHRYSLER is also going with the DIESEL for their
prototype. Looks like they are all going in the same direction as BAAT as far as engine application

.
Mobil , Ford join hunt for cleaner fuels

By David Chance

NEW YORK, March 5 (Reuters) - Mobil Corp and Ford Motor Co (F - news) on Thursday joined forces in the latest venture between an oil major and an auto company to search for a cleaner fuel to reduce pollution.

However, both companies stressed that this announcement, which comes 112 years after Carl Benz produced the first vehicle powered by the internal combustion engine, did not spell the end of cars and trucks powered by fuels derived from oil and other hydrocarbons.

''There is a high probability that fossil fuels will be the fuel of the future...because of existing infrastructure and economics,'' Mike Ramage, chief technology officer at Mobil, told a conference call after the venture was announced.

The two companies plan to invest some tens of millions of dollars to cover research and development of vehicles using direct-injected diesel engines, which the companies say are popular in Europe, but not in North America, and in the longer term fuel cell technology.

Mobil, the second largest U.S. oil company, and Ford, the second largest automaker, believe that a direct injection diesel engine, based on existing technology, could reduce emissions of carbon dioxide -- a key contributor to the ''Greenhouse Effect'' -- by as much as 30 percent.

The venture between Ford and Mobil will tie in to an existing research program between Ford, Germany's Daimler-Benz AG (NYSE:DAI - news; DAIG.F) and Canada's Ballard Power Systems Inc (Nasdaq:BLDPF - news; BLD.TO - news).

Already, General Motors Corp (GM - news) and Amoco Corp (AN - news) said they will collaborate on alternative fuel solutions for next-generation high-mileage vehicles, as are Exxon Corp (XON - news) and Atlantic Richfield Co (ARCO) (ARC - news), which have tied the knot with Chrysler Corp (C - news).

While stressing that all fuels will eventually have to meet standards of performance and the economics of existing gasoline driven cars, Mobil and Ford said that the development of more environmentally-friendly engines and fuels would require the initial support of the government, partly in the form of commitments to purchase environmentally-friendly vehicles.

According to research from the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental lobby group, the first fuel-cell vehicles could cost as much as $4,000-$7,000 more than cars using existing technology, and $1,000-$3,000 more if they went into large-scale production.

At the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January, GM introduced five new alternative propulsion vehicles, including a new version of its EV1 electric car; two different hybrid-electric cars, an electric car powered by a fuel cell, and an EV1 powered by a small compressed natural gas engine.

Ford said that it expected to be able to introduce a vehicle powered by a fuel cell by 2004 once key research on the technology needed to develop a viable fuel processor to extract hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels had been developed.

Mobil and Ford stressed that the largest reduction in carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions from existing fuel sources and engines would be achieved if the fruits of research were widely shared and new fuels were interchangeable, being made available at filling stations.



To: TheAlaskan who wrote (2471)3/6/1998 4:01:00 PM
From: Bharatwasi  Respond to of 6464
 
Alaskan,
Good comment. I am wondering why the big 3 or other big auto companies not entertain BAAT's 50M licensing contract. It seems like a drop in the bucket considering the billions they have outlayed in the MPG field. Even an outright buyout seems a good strategy, I figure about a 500-750Million dollar buyout of BAAT seems much cheaper and consider the competitive advantage over the rest of the competition. There must be some wise executives in the auto industry out there to seriously consider these options. They are very viable and inexpensive plus extremely rewarding. It boggles my mind that no big firm has not thaught of these options. But then again, who knows whats cooking behind the curtain. Something is bound to happen in big ways, common sense tells me that there is too much value to be gained in acquiring BBAT's tech for near term MPG/emmissions leaping improvements. I wonder what some ex auto executives think of these strategies. There are so many of them still living, may be retired or doing other bigger/better things. Any auto-execs in the audience?