Lithium Drive: AutoBlogGreen: Are you the U.S. widebody Mitsubishi i-MiEV? tnr.v, rm.v, lmr.v, alk.ax, tsla, sqm, fmc, roc, lit, li.v, wlc.v, clq.v, res.v, ree, avl.to, nsany, f, gm, rno.pa, dai, byddf, hev, aone, vlnc

  We were writing before about our experience in a test drive of European version of Electric i-Miev. Electric drive experience was amazing: total silence, full torque from the start, car was very responsive and dynamic to the controls. The downside was with its design and feel - that you are in an "electric car" where you have to sacrifice some comfort with its very narrow body and price was definitely on the upside with a tag above 30k euro before states rebates. We were seriously doubting that these cars could have any commercial success at that pricing level. 

  Today's news bring a second life to Mitsubishi in electric space - wide body give it a look of the real car, but "better" - with electric drive. We hope that interior and gadgets will match at least Nissan Leaf and price of 30k USD for the range of 100 miles on one charge will bring a serious competitor to the Nissan Leaf and Renault Fluence.

"The better is the Lithium Drive - electric drive has a very special feeling. We have test drives with Mitsubishi iMiev, Renault Fluence and Nissan Leaf. All cars have a very high torque and very smooth drive, they are almost totally silent inside at the slow speed. iMiev with its price at 30k euro after rebate will struggle once Renault EVs and Nissan Leaf will hit the road. It is smaller and you have a feeling of a "special electric car", when you have to give something in order to be green. We think that the future is open for the models, which will provide "normal, but better" experience as the comparable CE model, but we could be wrong here - people could opt for urban transport solution as well. Renault is on top of the electric game now, in Europe at least."

AutoBlogGreen:

Are you the U.S. widebody Mitsubishi i-MiEV?

Mitsubishi will be launching its all-electric i-MiEV in the United States next year, though it will be substantially updated from the current model sold overseas. In addition to a slightly wider shape, we can expect better interior amenities with more creature comforts and a higher level of fit and finish.

We've stumbled upon one of Mitsubishi's business plan presentations on the automaker's global corporate site, and therein lies two renderings of what the upgraded U.S.-spec car might look like. It appears that the too-cute bubbly proportions of the current i-MiEV will remain intact, albeit with a much more aggressive front fascia and wider track. As we noted in our review of a JDM-spec i-MiEV, added width would indeed make the diminutive hatch feel more planted on the road, and while we rather like the design of the current car, the revised styling is sure to be more attractive to the vast majority of U.S. shoppers.

Look for the production U.S.-spec i-MiEV to debut sometime next year. Mitsubishi is still targeting a price of under $30,000 (not including government incentives) when the car hits dealerships at the end of 2011. Hat tip to Ryan!"

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Catalyst: Peak Oil, REE and Lithium: The Next Oil Shock? TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, ALK.ax, LUN.to, REE, MCP, SQM, FMC, ROC, LI.v, WLC.v, CLQ.v, AVL.to, GXY.ax, ORE.ax, HEV, VLNC, AONE, F, NSANY, BGGF, GM, DAI, RNO.pa

 
"The world is going mobile and everyone wants stay mobile - we want to achieve this right regardless of Oil price and its availability. Now, we have technology which enables us to do so - our mobile communication devices and Electric Cars. What allowed this to happen is the drastic technological improvement of the battery technology and the discovery of a very powerful chemistry based on lithium ion solution. Billions of dollars and years of research have manifested as iPads, iPhones and Electric Cars."

  We have another warning on Peak Oil situation - this time it is the report from New Zealand Parliament "The New Oil Shock?" This year we have a staggering number of reports and warning on the looming Peak Oil situation. It takes time for reality to settle in, particularly, when nobody knows what to do with it. We have put REE in the headline and only few months ago we would have to explain, what is it all about - now suddenly everybody is talking about REE and stocks involved in Rare Earths are all making new highs. It takes a crisis for us to realise that fundamentals are driving the real trends. Sudden realisation that China controls more than 90% of REE market and their reserves maybe will last only for another twenty years, created the catalyst in the market place.

  What will it take to realise that we are running out of cheap oil? Another crisis?

  We are talking here about the powerful mega trend Inflation multiplied by Peak Oil situation - we have to move and readjust our society. Our Energy diet is not sustainable any more. We are lucky in a sense that there is technology available to us to survive the Oil Shock if we will all move fast - Electric Cars. It is our Next Big Thing and at the heart of this disruptive technology lie strategic commodities: REE and Lithium.

  Today everybody is exited about REE, tomorrow Peak Oil time will come and Lithium will make the headlines again. During excitement stage it is easy to make the wrong decision and chase the mini bubbles only to see them to pop - do not mistake the mega trends, Next Big Thing and parabolic rises. There is time to buy and time to sell. REE gives us a very good example - what can happen with a very small sector, when the all world depends on it. Peak Oil realisation will be next. With GM Volt and Nissan Leaf on the streets you will see the future - The Future is Electric.

New Zealand Parliament: The Next Oil Shock.

More on Peak Oil.

Why and How to invest in Lithium.

Rare Earth Elements explained.

 

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Peak Oil, Energy and National Security TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LMR.v ALK.ax, TSLA, HAO.v, ABN.v, JNN.v, NUP.ax, USA.ax, SRZ.ax, SQM, FMC, ROC, LI.v, WLC.v, CLQ.v, HEV, AONE, BAT, VLNC, NSANY, GM, RNO.pa, DAI, BYDDF, F

"We have time still, but it is running out very fast. After a certain point in the oil price increase the only concern we are going to have about Electric Cars will be their availibility on a mass scale to preserve our way of life and freedom.

"We expect consumers to shift - on a mass scale - from CVs to EVs, with proof that technology is viable and can provide the same utility but with a Better Experience. The Emotional Drive will be the driving force of this switch of consumer preferences."

"China to Invest Billions in Electric and Hybrid Cars. Nothing will be left to a chance in this methodical execution of state-level plan in China: transformation of the country's transportation system into the base of 21st century clean tech industrial revolution to further power its rise. China has already surpassed Japan as a second largest economy in the world and it is the largest auto market now."

ASPO 2010 Peak Oil, Energy and National Security.

ASPO 2010 The Impending World Energy Mess

ASPO 2010 NET Energy Supply Chain

ASPO 2010 The Peak

ASPO 2010 Peak Oil Update

ASPO 2010 Transport Revolutions

ASPO 2010 The Emerging Crisis: Military Concerns and Civilian Inaction.

ASPO 2010 Peaks Everywhere.

ASPO 2010 Solar Energy

More on Peak Oil

Why and How to invest in Lithium?

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Rare Earths: The Rare Earth Element Crisis TNR.v, CZX.v, AVL.to, CCE.v, RES.v, MDL.v, QUC.v, MCP, TSLA, BYDY, NSANY, RNO, FCX, BHP, RTP

Story about REE market is getting out and race for secure supply of strategic commodities: REE and Lithium  is well on track. China calls the shots and U.S. Corp is still very slow to asses the situation.

"Nothing will be left to a chance in this methodical execution of state-level plan in China: transformation of the country's transportation system into the base of 21st century clean tech industrial revolution to further power its rise. China has already surpassed Japan as a second largest economy in the world and it is the largest auto market now.

Now you can see a few details of state level planing in China: they have capital to invest with reserves over Two Trillion US Dollars, thousands of engineers with annual salaries compared to monthly ones in the West and, the most important, political will to implement the far going geopolitical plan to get rid off the Oil Hook. We are out of the politics and our idea is to define Macro trends and position ourselves early enough to capitalise on it.

The last piece in this game against Peak Oil (or fading American domination connected to the control of Oil in the world) is to have secure supply of strategic commodities for this technological advance. Here China already controls 97% of market in Rare Earth Elements and now it is time to build up position in Lithium. If in the beginning of Lithium Bull last year mostly Japanese companies were very active in junior mining space where small companies are controlling resources, now more and more reports from the juniors suggesting that Chinese companies are on the road."

Report from Congressional Research Service: Rare Earth Elements: The Global Supply Chain




InformationWeekGovernment:

The Rare Earth Element Crisis

A Congressional Research Service report considers whether U.S. dependency on foreign sources of rare earth elements threatens the defense and technology industries.

By Thomas Claburn

InformationWeek

August 28, 2010 08:10 AM

Image via Wikipedia

There are 17 rare earth elements (REEs). They have names like lanthanum, europium and yttrium. And they're critical to a variety of high-tech products and manufacturing processes, including catalytic converters, petroleum refining, color TV and flat panel displays, permanent magnets, batteries for hybrid and electric vehicles, medical devices, and various defense systems like missiles, jet engines, and satellite components.

About 124,000 metric tons of REEs were produced in 2009, with worldwide demand during this period estimated to be 134,000 metric tons -- the difference have been made up from existing stockpiles. By 2012, worldwide demand is expected to reach 180,000 metric tons while mining operations are not expected to keep up with demand in the near term.

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Techweb's Weekly Comedy Show On YouTube lawsuits, Intel anti-trust suits, Mac vs. PC spoofs and More This situation is explored in a report published by the Congressional Research Service in late July and recently posted to the Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy News Web site.

Congressional representatives have taken notice of what some, like Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), are calling a crisis. In May,Coffman introduced a rare earth amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011.

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"The Department of Defense is facing a near-term shortage of key 'rare earth' materials necessary to support our defense weapon systems, and rare earth magnets are especially critical. ...," he said in a statement. "Today, the United States does not have a manufacturer of neodymium iron boron rare earth magnets, yet they are found in our precision guided munitions, ships, aircraft, and other critical weapons systems.”

Critical to the discussion is the fact that 97% of rare earth element production is currently controlled by China, where internal demand is rising and interest in exporting these materials is becoming more complicated as China's leaders look to take advantage of their country's market dominance.

The CRS report lists a variety of policy options: funding the U.S. Geological Survey to locate more viable REE deposits; supporting greater REE exploration in the U.S., Australia, Africa, and Canada; challenging Chinese export restrictions through the WTO; and establishing a stockpile of REE to mitigate potential supply interruptions.

This fall, the leaders of the public and private sectors will convene at Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington, D.C., to discuss government's critical challenges. Request an invitation to join this unparalleled group of influencers. It happens Sept. 7-8. Click here to find out more.

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• Lithium Bull: Rest before the Charge TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LIT, LIT.v, TSLA, HEV, AONE, CLQ.v, WLC.v, ABN.v, HAO.v, FMC, SQM, (sufiy.blogspot.com)
• Rare Earth Elements, Peak Oil and Lithium: James Dines with Jim Puplava. TNR.v, CZX.v, TSLA, LIT, AVL.to, RES.v, RM.v, LIT.v, LI.v, CLQ.v, WLC.v, (sufiy.blogspot.com)
• Lithium M&A Watch List: President Obama backs U.S. Lithium developers TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LIT.v, LI.v, WLC.v, CLQ.v, LIT, TSLA, HEV, AONE, GOOG, AAPL, RIMM, LUN.to, FCX, RTP, BHP, LMR.v, AVL.to (sufiy.blogspot.com)
• Video: Translogic tests Chevy Volt TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LIT, LIT.v, TSLA, BYDDY, NSANY, WLC.v, CLQ.v, SQM, FMC, AVL.to, (sufiy.blogspot.com)
• Lithium Drive: Video: Translogic 5.1: Nissan Leaf TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LIT, LIT.v, TSLA, BYDDY, NSANY, WLC.v, CLQ.v, SQM, FMC, AVL.to, (sufiy.blogspot.com)
• WSJ: Lithium Drive: Getting a Charge From Nissan's New Leaf TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, TSLA, LIT, LIT.v, WLC.v, CLQ.v, SQM, FMC, AVL.to, RES.v, HEV, AONE, VLNC (sufiy.blogspot.com)
• First Uranium, than Potash, Now Copper and Lithium: Friedland sees blue skies for copper on "phenomeon" of Electric Cars TNR.v, CZX.v, LIT, TSLA, LIT;v, RM.v, LI.V, WLC.v, CLQ.v (sufiy.blogspot.com)
• Lithium and REE: Begining of the Bull: Jim Puplava with James Dines on Uranium, Gold and Rare Earths TNR.v, CZX.v, TSLA, RM.v, LI.v, CLQ.v, WLC.v, (sufiy.blogspot.com)
• The Rare Earth Element Crisis (informationweek.com)

Lithium and REE: Beginning of the Bull: Jim Puplava with James Dines on Uranium, Gold and Rare Earths TNR.v, CZX.v, TSLA, RM.v, LI.v, CLQ.v, WLC.v,

Jim Puplava has made a segment with James Dines on Uranium, Gold and Rare Earths recently. James Dines gave a very interesting description about beginning stage of the real Bull market. We think that Lithium is exactly at the same stage now: people look at the sector, but do not realise its real potential. James Dines has already started the fire in REE market space in Spring 2009.

Image by sparrowsfall via Flickr

Peak Oil and following Energy Crunch will drive our investment landscape for years to come. Lithium gives us chemistry to make storage of energy possible even for mobility application. Source of energy is important and Peak Oil will be addressed with Nuclear, Wind, Solar and other alternative sources, but we need to have the efficient Energy Storage solution to use it in Green Mobility and now we have it with Lithium ion batteries.

Image via Wikipedia

We were running on Oil for the one hundred years, now we have means to store electricity and run on it. It is simple, but groundbreaking statement - this disruptive technology will change our world and provide investment opportunity of the generation.

More about Lithium Bull.

Financial Sense: Uranium: An Undervalued Asset Waiting for a Catalyst

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• Global X Funds to unveil world's first lithium ETF (reuters.com)
• Mercedes-Benz announces two hybrid models for 2011 model year (ecofriend.org)
• You: Rush for rare metals heats up around globe (search.japantimes.co.jp)
• Peak Everything? (reason.com)
• Lithium Supply: RetireFund: TNR Gold is a lot more than a Gold Stock TNR.v, CZX.v, RM.v, LIT.v, TSLA, LI.v, WLC.v, LMR.v, CLQ.v, ORE.ax, HEV, AONE, (sufiy.blogspot.com)
• Rodinia Lithium Inc. announces CDN$5 million equity financing (newswire.ca)

US Dollar Collapse: SAI - Jeff Gundlach's Complete Guide to U.S. Debt Default TNR.v, CZX.v, AMM.to, ASM.v, KTN.v, MGN, GBN.v, VTR.v, GRC.to, NGQ.to,

Dear Deflationists, Please Do Not Mess With The Fed!

US Dollar is tired and its levitation could be well over: it is the only hope for the markets to stay above the water - Bernanke's Helicopters are coming... We are at the crucial technical levels on S&P, DOW and other markets, massive intervention today in FX market blew away US dollar Bearish Flag pattern into crash below MA50, Euro Shorts were burnt alive. Markets need to be popped up by any means now, banking system will not survive a Double Dip.

We are not alone: California is so much closer than Greece, it is 8th largest in the world and it is bankrupt now. What Green Fellow gonna do now? It's destiny is predetermined - and it is to go down.

"CS. It is time for us to sharpen our pencil and put a few lines together about socio-economic events of this week which will have far reaching implications on our way of life. We will speculate on the real events behind the scene on a day of Cyber Meltdown: spectacular Dow Crash by the magnitude of 1000 point in fifteen minutes. We will develop a very strong argument in favour of Inflation and its cost based on PhD Thesis: At what point price of Oil becomes prohibitive to use Helicopters by Ben Bernanke in his open market operations. We will draw some lines on How Lithium, Gold and price of Oil are connected and what it means to be grounded. In the end we will leave you with the question: Where to invest - In Ben Bernanke, Ink Factory, Helicopters, Oil or Gold and Lithium?"



SAI:

Jeff Gundlach's Complete Guide To The Inevitable American Debt Default