China, Oil and Lithium: Beijing to mass produce electric cars TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LMR.v, LI.v, WLC.v, F, BYDDY, NSANY, DAI, RNO, GM, HEV, AONE, LUN.to

After groundbreaking Toyota move with Tesla, Daimler is pushing its way into Electric Cars mass market and in Asian market with BYD. Companies have announced a few cooperation ideas before and now it is the time is for the bold action and they are establishing a J/V. Auto Majors are buying time in Electric Car market battle field. Nissan is a clear leader on the pricing side for EV now and GM Volt will be first to market with Range Extender model alongside with BYD. Toyota has lost its time on Soft Hybrid side and Daimler was very cautious with its engagement in Electric Cars as well. Daimler has made an impressive Electric show at Frankfurt Motor Show last year, but real things were among Hybrids and Smart Electric to test the grounds with small town car. This concept model above was still at the prototype level at that time. Now BYD will get premium auto brand, safety and mass production technology and Daimler will get access to batteries, low cost production base and the market.

"Competition for Oil is heating up and aggressive move by China into Electric Cars leaves no other options for US than to follow. In order to keep power China needs gradually improve standard of living, it will bring upside pressure on labor cost. Electrification will not only provide Energy Security to China, but will significantly reduce the cost of its transportation element and provide another opportunity to stay among low cost producers. Situation is completely different to U.S. - they have capital to invest in Electric Mobility CAPEX now and rip the rewards of lower cash cost on transportation side later. We will refer you to the Economics of Electric Cars.
Recent Ash Cloud events in Europe brought a very sobering sense of the feeling to be grounded. It is amazing how many things are taking for granted. This time it is Ash Cloud - what will happen with oil above 150?
Electric Cars is the only commercially viable technology today to sustain mobility world wide with rising Oil prices. Lithium is at the heart of Green Mobility revolution - it is an industry adopted standard for batteries and billions of dollars are invested into battery technology and upcoming by the end of this year Electric Cars on a mass market scale. This Bull market is still very young - only a year or so from the beginning after the crash of 2008."

The Malay Mail:

Beijing to mass produce electric cars

Submitted by amir azree on Friday, May 28th, 2010
Friday, May 28th, 2010 11:04:00

ENVIRONMENT FRIENDLY: The BYD Auto on show at the company's factory in Shenzhen

FRANKFURT: Chinese auto group BYD (Build Your Dreams) and German luxury car maker Daimler announced yesterday a joint venture to mass produce an electric car in China. A new research and development group to be called Shenzhen BYD Daimler New Technology Company will get an initial investment of around US$87 million (RM286m), a Daimler statement said. "We are well-placed with our new joint venture to make the most of China's enormous potential in electromobility," Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche said. Daimler is to bring "knowhow in vehicle architecture and security" to the venture , while BYD will contribute "its competence in batteries and propulsion systems for electric vehicles," the statement added. The world's oldest automaker and one of the youngest aim to market the vehicle under a new jointly-owned brand, joining forces to target China's fast expanding urban market. Around 16 million autos are currently sold across the country each year. Launched just seven years ago, BYD Auto now claims to be the sixth biggest car maker in China and its future plans are focused on electric or hybrid vehicles, building on the experience of its battery-making parent group. The Chinese firm, in which US billionaire Warren Buffett holds a stake of 10 per cent, has already begun to sell its electric E6 model as a taxi in the southern city of Shenzhen and aims to distribute the car in Europe next year."

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EVs mass market: $10k Electric car tax break proposed TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LMR.v, WLC.v, LI.v, CLQ.v, SQM, FMC, ROC, NSANY, BYDDY, F, GM,

"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."

We have another reason to believe that growth in Electric Cars penetration rate could be explosive: in all estimates government policy is crucial combined with lithium battery cost for mass adoption of EVs within next ten years.

DetNews.com:

Electric car tax break proposed

Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf buyers in select cities would get $10K incentive under Senate plan
David Shepardson / The Detroit News
Washington -- Buyers of the Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf would be eligible for a $10,000 federal tax credit in some cities under a $10 billion Senate plan to boost electric vehicles.
House and Senate members on Thursday released similar plans intended to make electric vehicles more than niche models.
The House version would spend $6.6 billion, dedicating $800 million to five "deployment communities" to speed 700,000 plug-in vehicles into use and establish recharging networks. A Senate version would spend about $10 billion and grant $250 million to up to 15 communities.


The Senate version would extend the current $7,500 tax credit for 200,000 plug-in vehicles per manufacturer to 300,000. And it would boost the credit to $10,000 in those 15 communities.
That would further reduce the cost of the Volt, which will get up to 40 miles on a charge, and the fully electric Nissan Leaf, which will get up to 100 miles.
General Motors spokesman Greg Martin praised the bills.
"We appreciate Congress' foresight and interest in electric vehicles," he said. "With the Chevrolet Volt just months away from the showroom, we believe the timing is right to start working on policies that can accelerate early consumer adoption of advanced electric vehicle technologies."
Electric vehicles enjoy widespread support across the political spectrum.
"Republicans and Democrats agree that electrifying our cars and trucks is the single best way to reduce our dependence on oil," said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., one of the sponsors.
Both bills would set aside billions more for research into batteries, research and tax credits.
The Senate bill also would create a $10 million prize for the first manufacturer of a battery that can get 500 miles on a charge.
Congressional aides have spent several months writing the bills. Members cited the recent Gulf oil spill as a factor in the urgent need to shift vehicles from oil to electric power.
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., noted that the United States has 2 percent of the world's oil reserves but consumes 25 percent of the world's oil.
"This isn't a question of if, but when," Markey said, adding the bill would speed up the widespread use of electric vehicles. "It will drive the creation of jobs, domestic manufacturing and homegrown innovation."
The Senate bill would require that one of the 15 deployment communities be a rural area of fewer than 125,000 people and would "reflect diverse populations" and geography.
The Senate bill sets aside another $2 billion for grants and cost sharing -- local communities would have to provide 20 percent of the funding.
Communities and their business and utility partners would have to apply for inclusion.

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100528/AUTO01/5280349/1148/rss25#ixzz0pDCtrQjP"

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James Dines: The Future of Gold, Nuclear Power and Rare Earth Minerals TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LMR.v, LI.v, WLC.v, CLQ.v, AVL.to QUC.v, RES.v, GRC.to,

The Future of Gold, Nuclear Power and Rare Earth Minerals

Satturday May 8th, 2010.

James Dines Editor & Publisher The Dines Letter with Jim Puplava.

"Lithium is the leveraged play on Peak Oil and rising Oil price with coming Inflation. Sector is very small and market is even more smaller - everything is ready for the parabolic move in case of supporting fundamentals."

James Dines has started the fire with REE market last spring as he did with Uranium before:

Lithium and REE Investment Manifesto and Next Big Thing in action:San Francisco notes.

"Big IF" was in 2003 when James Dines pronounced bull market in Uranium and we made an easy killing on basket of Uranium Junior miners, some of them going from low 0.2 to over 1.0 AUD on Chinese money coming into the sector in less then a year. James Dines is in the picture again and this May he moved the REE market with value doubled and tripled with his announcement of the first Major Bull market after 2003 Uranium call in Rare Earth Elements. It will be our first take out from San Francisco Hard Assets conference last week - meeting hall was full of crowd and Master energised by attention proclaimed:
In 70s he told to his followers Buy Gold and he was a Gold Bug. He was stared down but refused to retreat. (This phrase followed every of his bullish calls.)
In 80s he told to Buy China and he was China Bug. He was...you know what happen next.
In 1997 he told to Buy Internet and he was an Internet Bug.
In 1999 he told to sell Internet stocks.
He told that it will be era of raw materials in 2000.
2002 he announced Uranium Super Bull.
2005 he told Sell Real Estate.
In November 2008 he told that it is Not the End of the world and mining stocks will double again.
In May 2009 he told about coming Buying Panic in Rare Earth Elements, announced Super Major Bull market in REE and became a Rare Earth Bug. They (REE) will be on front pages and Goldman Sachs owns Molycorp - private company which owns last past producing mine in USA. (We did not verify this information.)
- James Dines, John Kaiser and Jack Lifton are all extremely bullish on Rare Earth Elements and Jay Taylor has picked up recently TNR Gold / International Lithium for his Watch List. James Dines called it "The One Best Area to Buy Now", John Kaiser worried about "Security of Supply in a Changing World" and Jack Lifton reported on "In 2010 What will be the Best Plays in Rare Earths for Small Investors As Well As Large". Reasons sighted are the same as we have discussed before here:
China controls more then 97% of the market now.
By 2014 China will consume everything that will be produced in REE space.
All other REE metrics like 36 kg of REE in every Prius and 300kg of Rare Earth magnets per 1 mW of Wind Tubines."

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China and Lithium: Electric cars to get a lift up from new policy measures TNR.v, CZX.v, LMR.v, RM.v, WLC.v, SQM, FMC, ROC, LI.v, F, NSANY, BYDDY, FXI

China has a very high ambitions in electric car space. Among advantages are relatively cheap qualified working force of literally thousand engineers devoted to Lithium ion batteries and Electric Cars in BYD alone. It is not a surprise that Chinese companies are so active in Australia securing supply of Lithium, whether they will be coming after Japanese companies to Argentina, Nevada and Canada we will see in the nearest future.

"We have now a Chinese perspective on the potential for the market for Electric cars, China' ambitions and its clear understanding of Lithium as a strategic commodity for ongoing Green Mobility Revolution. They are talking about the same "Golden Triangle" of Lithium as Rick Mills did in his recent report and Lithium ABCs:"

"Electric cars to get a lift up from new policy measures

By Lan Lan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-08 10:02

Beijing: Chinese automakers are set to benefit from a much-awaited government stimulus plan that encourages production of fuel-efficient vehicles, said industry sources.

The green auto plan, currently awaiting government approval, is expected by industry players to be unveiled in the next couple of months.

According to the plan, electric cars that qualify for subsidies are those that have received government's production license and are assembled in China, regardless of whether made by domestic or joint-venture firms.

The industry sources said that imported electric cars would have little hope of benefiting from the policy in the initial stages.

Private buyers in five chosen cities could obtain incentives, with potential limits of up to about 60,000 yuan ($8,788) or 50,000 yuan per car.

Miao Wei, vice-minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has said the government planned to launch the incentives for private purchases of new energy vehicles in March. However, the plan has since been postponed.

Zero emission pure electric cars would be the preferred technological paths for new energy cars in China, which would be reflected in the stimulus plan, said sources. Other technical options include hybrid, fuel cells and hydrogen fuel new energy vehicles.

"The government's stimulus policy, which will be released soon, will focus mainly on promotion of pure electric cars," said Xu Changming, a senior economist of State Information Center, a thinktank under the National Development and Reform Commission.

Pure electric cars could eliminate dependence on oil and provide an opportunity for Chinese automakers to catch up with global carmakers, which already have a head start in the electric car market. For other technologies such as hybrid, Xu said it still requires advanced engine and transmission technologies, but such advancements are lagging behind at the moment.

China's roadmap for new energy cars for current period is "giving priority to pure electric cars, and taking hybrid cars as complement", said Zhang Jinhua, vice-secretary general of China's Society of Automotive Engineer, who is also an official for the national 863 research program on energy saving and new energy vehicles.

Fuel cell and hybrid vehicles were targeted as the priority for new energy vehicle development in China's 11th Five Year Plan (2005-10), but the authority's mainstream opinion has shifted to cars powered by pure electricity, and hybrid and fuel cell technologies would mainly be applied on commercial vehicles, said analysts.

"In the long run, commercialization of new energy cars cannot only rely on government's stimulus," said Frank Liao, chief engineer of Chery's automobile engineering research institute.

"The contest for new energy vehicles will last for decades and which technology path would prevail in the competition is up to market forces," Liao said.

Related readings: Daimler, BYD in China electric car partnership China Qinyuan seeks to boost electric car sales in US China to lead the way in electric cars, says Bain China drives on green wheels amid crisis

The first round of competition for the electric cars market share would mainly be between medium and small-sized domestic, private automakers, as large State-owned domestic automakers have acted sluggishly in the electric car research and development.

A batch of pure electric cars has rolled-off from the assembly lines at BYD, Chery, ChangAn and Zotye. BYD Auto launched its plug-in hybrid car F3DM at the end of March and tiny Zhejiang-based Zotye Auto launched its 2008 EV in January.

"Big State-owned automakers didn't take the development of electric cars seriously five years ago and now they are feeling the sense of urgency as the smaller rivals have marched in advance," said Wang Zhenpo, an associate professor at the electric vehicle center of Beijing Institute of Technology."

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