ZED Engines – Power to change the transportation paradigm

Automotive News — February 20, 2012. LOS ANGELES — Just to be clear, Henrik Fisker says his fledging auto company is not circling the drain.

Fisker Automotive recently missed vehicle development and sales milestones needed to obtain another round of Department of Energy funding — resulting in layoffs and speculation that the luxury-hybrid startup is failing.

The next major step is to order tooling for the Nina at Fisker’s Delaware plant — at a cost estimated to match the $336 million remaining from Fisker’s DOE Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing loan.

In addition to the DOE drawdown, Fisker has raised more than $860 million in private equity financing since 2007.

For all the Republican slamming of Fisker’s $529 million DOE loan — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney labeled it “crony capitalism” practiced by President Obama

ZED COMMENT: So to be clear, Fisker is on the hook for $1,389,000,000 and hasnt produced a vehicle. It is now seeking even more money even though it has no dealers with parts, trained servicemen, nothing. That could cost another $1 billion. Then what? Make a profit with only 2,500 units on order at a dealer price of $103,000? The ZED business model is completely different. The ZED green-tech engine can be installed in a wide variety of current vehicles at a cost equal to, or less than, current engines. Unlike a Fisker, people can continue to drive what they like, for a fraction of the price. Now which business model makes more sense? For more information contact: corpcomm@zedpower.com

BBC. London. 20 February 2012 | The price of oil has reached its highest level since June last year due to rising tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.

“The increase in price is a direct result of European importers of Iranian oil looking round to find alternative sources,” said Professor Paul Stevens from Chatham House.

Oil prices have also been driven up by an improvement in the performance of the US and Chinese economies.

The US is the world’s largest consumer of oil.

Factors include stronger demand because of Asian growth and the European cold spell. At the same time, supply from South Sudan and Syria to Europe has also been cut.

ZED COMMENT: ZED engines can burn any fuel, including those not derived from petroleum, such as natural gas. This fuel flexibility is a feature unmatched by any other green-tech engine, and enables the ZED engine to be a 100 year fuel oil replacement solution. For more information contact: corpcomm@zedpower.com

Edmunds. Los Angeles. 03/01/2011 | Hybrids and the current crop of clean diesels offer impressive fuel savings over their gas counterparts. But hybrid and diesel technologies aren’t cheap and often add thousands of dollars to a car’s sticker price. As recently as 2010, the federal government offered tax credits that helped soften the financial impact. That spurred sales and encouraged consumers to adopt this new technology.

But these tax credits stopped on January 1, 2011. With their expiration comes a good question for consumers: Are hybrids and diesels a good value?

A few years ago, Edmunds editors came to the conclusion that hybrids didn’t make financial sense.

Most people won’t keep a diesel or hybrid car long enough to realize savings from them. If you’re the average person, you hold onto a new car for five or six years. After that, you’re thinking about purchasing a new one. Unless you keep the hybrid or diesel past its “break-even” period — the amount of time it would take you to save enough money on gas to offset the additional expense of buying the hybrid — it’s not the wise choice.

ZED COMMENT: The Volkswagen Golf TDI diesel car takes 18.1 years to “break-even” in operating cost differential with gasoline. The BMW X5 xDrive 35d diesel SUV takes 45.6 years to “break-even”.  The problem is, the average car in the USA is scrapped in 8.0 years.  Considering a Lexus RX450h hybrid? The “breakeven” is 8.1 years NOT including a new battery pack for $5-6,000 if the vehicle exceeds 100,000 miles. Comparing a Toyota Prius against a Corolla, it takes 7.4 years for the Prius to reach the same cost per mile traveled as the Corolla, again not taking into account a battery replacement, or scrapping the vehicle at 8.0 years.  To be a real green-tech replacement for the conventional engine, the operating cost differential cannot exceed a conventional engine. As such, ZED is the only engine which passes this barrier to market entry. For more information contact corpcomm@zedpower.com

Automotive News. February 14, 2012. Los Angeles | Tesla Motors Inc. may have seen its loss widen in 2011′s final quarter as it wound down production and sales of $109,000 Roadster electric cars.

A widening of Tesla’s quarterly loss will affirm the views of Tesla critics, said Alan Baum, principal of Baum & Associates, a provider of automobile-industry analysis in suburban Detroit. “The people who think electric vehicles are not ready for prime time are going to say yet again that Tesla is a failure.”

Tesla is among the most-shorted U.S. stocks. Almost 65 percent of its shares available for trading, or float, were sold short as of Jan. 31, the second-highest total in the Russell 1000 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

For all of 2011, the electric car maker’s loss widened to $254 million from $154 million in 2010.

Automotive News — February 9, 2012. Detroit | I don’t hate green vehicles. I would simply like to see them receive only the plaudits, publicity and praise that their position in the industry deserves. And that’s not very much.

Last year 268,808 hybrid vehicles were sold in this country, according to hybridcars.com. That was 2.1 percent of the car-truck market. Not exactly an imposing performance.

And 136,463 of those 268,808 sales were Toyota Prius models. That’s 50.8 percent of the total. How about squelching the publicity barrage until the cars are worthy of the mention

Sales of electric cars give them even less right than hybrids to be included in any publicity barrage. Hybridcars.com found only 17,813 sales last year for the four electrics that disclose numbers: Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt, Mitsubishi i and Smart EV. That’s about one-third of 1 percent of car sales.

Last year’s 136,463 Prius sales weren’t bad in today’s world, but it was eons away from the million-plus Impala models Chevrolet dealers were delivering each year back in the mid-1960s. One million Impalas a year? Right on! You could look it up.

ZED COMMENT: For those in the business, the electric has always been about unsubstantiated hype, not fact. From a theoretical driving range which is impossible in real world conditions, to limited vehicle applications, recharging limitations, safety issues and more, the electric hype is not being “bought” by the consumer. In contrast, the ZED engine powered vehicle is the same as we drive today, but with a more efficient green-tech engine. For more information contact: corpcomm@zedpower.com

Automotive News. February 7, 2012. Las Vegas | The proposal to increase federal fuel economy standards to 54.5 mpg by 2025 threatens to price millions of consumers out of the market, the incoming chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association said Monday.

That fight is not to defeat the fundamental idea of improving fuel efficiency. Underriner stressed that NADA has long supported fuel economy gains. But NADA wants a full and fair public debate on the 54.5 mpg proposal, he said.

He cited an Environmental Protection Agency estimate that the proposed requirement would add $3,000 to the cost of a new vehicle. NADA, in separate testimony before U.S. regulators, estimates the proposals could add $5,000 to the cost of a typical new car or light truck.

Actual costs could be even higher, he said. New economic data show if the average price of a car increases from $12,000 to $15,000, for example, as many as 7.5 million Americans will be priced out of the market, Underriner said, citing NADA analysis.

“That means 7.5 million fewer customers in our showrooms,” Underriner said. “We already know what that’s like. We’ve lived that nightmare. We don’t want to repeat it.”

ZED COMMENT: The NADA has cause for concern. Mandating a performance result, without the technical means to achieve that result, and to disregard cost seems counter-productive. In contrast, ZED engines achieve the targeted result, and can do it for the same cost or less than existing technology. No one is priced out of the market. Everyone can still drive the vehicle they choose. No other green tech engine can make these claims. For more information contact corpcomm@zedpower.com

Automotive News. February 6, 2012. Los Angeles | Electric car startup Fisker Automotive Inc. said on Monday it has suspended work at its manufacturing plant in Delaware and laid off 26 workers while it renegotiates the terms of its $529 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Fisker’s Wilmington, Del., plant is expected to manufacture the company’s second vehicle, known as the Nina. The $336 million balance of its DOE loan is intended to fund the Nina program, Fisker said.

The introduction of the Karma was delayed because of regulatory issues and battery pack problems that prompted a voluntary safety recall by Fisker.

The DOE loan for the Nina project was contingent on Fisker meeting development and sales milestones for the Karma, which the company missed, the Associated Press reported.

Fisker is now negotiating with the DOE to modify the loan agreement so funds for that project can be released. “We hope we can reach a resolution soon,” Fisker spokesman Roger Ormisher told the Associated Press.

ZED COMMENT: More trouble in electrical paradise? Building an electric car requires not only an expensive factory, but an expensive all-new chassis, and unique manufacturing processes. On the other hand, the ZED engine can be built in existing factories, installed in existing vehicles, and serviced at existing dealers, so they can hit the showroom floor for the same price as a conventional vehicle. No “electric” in the world can make this claim, let alone deliver the same or better performance. If an electric like Fisker makes no economic sense even with massive government funding, then is it a viable alternative? Should we taxpayers be supporting it with our hard earned tax dollars? Henry Ford didn’t get a cent from the government, and he really did change the transportation paradigm. for more information contact: corpcomm@zedpower.com

Automotive News. February 2, 2012. Los Angeles | A car owner who sued Honda Motor Co. over allegations the automaker overstated gas mileage for her 2006 Civic Hybrid said she won $9,867 in small claims court in Los Angeles.

“I am absolutely thrilled at the reports that I won, even though I won’t see the actual judgment until it comes in the mail,” Heather Peters said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement. “It’s a victory for Civic Hybrid owners everywhere!”

The award couldn’t be immediately confirmed in court records. Peters, who is a lawyer, opted out of a proposed class action settlement over claims the Civic Hybrid doesn’t get 50 miles per gallon as the carmaker says and filed her own case in small claims court, where plaintiffs and defendants represent themselves.

The class-action settlement offered as little as $100 in cash and a $500 coupon toward a new car, Peters said before a Jan. 25 hearing.

ZED COMMENT: Hybrids use batteries. Battery performance deteriorates rapidly in real world conditions, especially being affected by temperature, as well as age and the number of service cycles. As a result, it is impossible for them to attain the fuel economy rating when new, under controlled conditions. In contrast, ZED engines, powered by fuel, consistently deliver the same consistent performance in real world conditions. For more information, contact corpcomm@zedpower.com

Bloomberg News | 2011/12/20. As smog grounded hundreds of flights from Beijing last week, emergency doctors at Peking University People’s Hospital faced a rush of patients.

Lungs weren’t the problem, says Ding Rongjing, the hospital’s deputy head of cardiology. Five people were admitted for heart attacks from Dec. 4 to Dec. 6, compared with one or two a week typically. One 60-year-old male patient died.

The illnesses are an unwanted consequence of the economic growth that helped spur a 32 percent jump in China’s car sales last year. Outdoor air pollution kills 1.3 million people globally each year, the World Health Organization estimates.

A growing body of evidence shows dirty air not only triggers asthma and other respiratory conditions, over time it may damage heart and blood vessels, and even cause birth defects.

“Whenever we have days with bad pollution, we get significantly more patients with symptoms like high blood pressure, feeling of suffocation, and chest pains,” Ding said in an interview at the hospital, where she’s worked since 1996.

On days of extreme pollution, heart and stroke cases at the 1,450-bed center can increase as much as 40 percent to 280 patients, she said.

ZED COMMENT: The ZED engine reduces pollution from 50-99% depending on the fuel. According to the World Health organization the reduction in pollution would save lives. For more information contact: corpcomm@zedpower.com

Automotive News January 30, 2012 | Pity the poor Midwestern Chevrolet dealer trying to sell a Volt.

Of course in November and December, cold winds blow across the Midwest, the Northeast and other points North. Battery range takes a hit when the outside temperature is in the 30s, 20s or lower.

Randy Fox, a GM spokesman, said an electric vehicle’s range depends on driving technique, terrain and temperature.

The winter cold decreases the Volt’s range to 27-29 miles, Fox added. I saw that Chevy dealer a few weeks ago. I asked how many Volts he sold.

I could tell his answer even before he responded.
“Not one,” he said.

“They told me the range was too short — 27 miles wasn’t impressive. If it was in the 30s, mid-30s at least, I would have sold at least one,” he said.

ZED COMMENT: Welcome once again to “real world” conditions, and the adverse effect on EV range. Turn on the rear window defroster, radio, wipers, heater, with some ice or snow and freezing temperatures for perhaps a drive around the block, but nowhere near an “up to” advertised 250 mile range.

The EV cannot meet conventional engine performance despite billions being spent on research. This is why the dealer said, “None” were sold.  In contrast the ZED engine can replace any engine in any vehicle, making it a real replacement for the conventional engine.  For more information contact corpcomm@zedpower.com.