Methanex Corp. (Canada), Mitsubishi Corp. (Japan) and Mitsui &and Co. Ltd. (Japan) have entered into a strategic alliance aimed to promote the merits of methanol in Japan as the fuel of choice for fuel cell vehicle applications. The parties will work with governmental and nongovernmental agencies to address any potential regulatory hurdles and encourage the […]
Ault Inc. (Minneapolis, MN) reported net sales of $26.3 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2001 ended November 26, 2000, an increase of 83 percent from $14.4 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2000 ended November 28, 1999. The second-quarter increase followed year-over-year sales growth of 60 percent in this year's first quarter, […]
Ballard Power Systems (Vancouver, BC) announced that it has commissioned its initial fuel cell manufacturing facility, Plant One. A 9,900 square-meter facility, Plant One is located adjacent to Ballard's corporate headquarters. Construction of Plant One was completed in October 1999, and the building was officially opened by Jean Chrétien, prime minister of Canada, in October […]
Catalytica Inc. (Mountain View, CA) has announced the distribution ratio for the spin-off of Catalytica Energy Systems in connection with Catalytica's merger with Synotex Co. Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of DSM (Netherlands). Each stockholder of record at the close of business on December 15, 2000, will receive 0.16547 of a share of Catalytica Energy Systems […]
Exide Technologies (Princeton, NJ) announced plans to invest $21.0 million in reopening and upgrading their Maple, Ontario, manufacturing facility in order to meet the growing demand for their sealed-technology industrial batteries. Initial production is planned to begin 1 April, 2001 with full production beginning six months later, in October 2001. The company is planning to […]
Electric Fuel Corp. (Iselin, NJ) announced that their annual meeting of shareholders was held in Penn West, in New York, NY, on 4 December 2000. Robert S. Ehrlich, chairman and CFO of the company, updated shareholders on the company's progress and introduced the management team. Ehrlich commented, "Our management team includes Yehuda Harats, president and […]
Energizer Holdings Inc. (St. Louis, MI) reported expectations of sales for the first quarter 2001 to be 12 to 16 percent lower than the $673.6 million reported in the first quarter a year ago, during the heavy Y2K purchases. The company sees earnings in the range of $0.50 to $0.60 per share in the coming […]
Nexergy Inc. (Columbus, OH) announced today that all three of its subsidiaries, Promark Electronics, DC Battery Products and Tauber Electronics, will now conduct business under the brand name Nexergy. Nexergy President Phil Glandon commented, "In order to make it clear that we are a single company with four locations across the country, we have decided […]
IdaTech (Bend, OR) announced the execution of a long-term license and distribution agreement for its patented fuel cell systems with Tokyo Boeki Ltd. (Japan). Tokyo Boeki also took a minority equity position in IdaTech and agreed to promote the IdaTech brand name in Japan exclusively. Under the terms of the agreement, Tokyo Boeki shall represent […]
Evercel Inc. (Danbury, CT) has announced that, with its joint venture in China, Xiamen Three Circles-ERC Battery Corp. Ltd. (China), it has received an order for its premium rechargeable nickel-zinc batteries from the Flying Electric Motor Co. Ltd. (Taiwan) to be used in a new line of electric scooters for the Taiwan market. The initial […]
The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers (Washington, DC) are calling on the California Air Resource Board (ARB) to adopt a "Fair Market Test" to determine whether a successful, sustainable consumer market exists for battery-powered electric vehicles at volumes required by the states zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate. The Fair Market Test outlined by the Alliance would be […]
Fairchild Semiconductor (San Jose, CA) introduced two battery-charging controller ICs, the FAN7563 and FAN7564, that provide constant current and constant voltage charging of lithium-ion batteries used in handheld applications. The FAN7563 and FAN7564 operate from 2.5 to 16V and provide end-of-charge current control. The FAN7564 implements an LDO control function and delivers driving output that […]
FuelCell Energy (Danbury, CT) has reported 2000 fourth quarter and year-end results. For the fourth quarter, ended 31 October 2000, FuelCell Energy reported a net loss of $1.4 million, or $0.09 cents per diluted share, compared with a profit of $0.5 million, or $0.4 cents per diluted share, during the same quarter of the previous […]
Celanese AG (Germany) and Honda (Japan) announced that their research subsidiaries, Celanese Ventures Gmbh and Honda R&D Co., will cooperate in the development of membranes and membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) for the creation of a new fuel cell for car engines. The venture is hoped to both improve the performance of car fuel cells and […]
Ness Corp. (Korea) debuted a new line of 2.3V ultracapacitors. These ultracapacitors are specifically designed with portable and handheld devices in mind. For this reason, Ness Corp. claims that they are lighter, smaller and less expensive than regular ultracapacitors to operate. Ness Corp. also claims that the new ultracapacitors charge and discharge more than 100 […]