Nou ja dat impliceert dat we GM dankbaar moeten zijn voor de techniek. Zo ver ik heb begrepen heeft GM de techniek doorontwikkeld en daarna voor zich zelf gehouden. Er was immers al een keer een soort 'gouden' tijdperk voor electric vehicles geweest. Naast de GM EV1 kwam ook Toyota en ik geloof ook Honda met een EV. Die laatste mochten echter de betere NiMh batterijen niet meer gebruiken en dat was de doodsteek voor de EV in de jaren 90.
The weak point of an Electric car is the batteries. GM bought control of the advanced NiMH batteries needed for all plug-in EVs but showed no intention of improving them or perfecting them.
Chevron owns the patent rights on the EV batteries!! What? Why?? Read or comment
Toyota, working to meet the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate, set up a production line in 1997 for the “large-format” EV-95 batteries needed for their Toyota RAV4-EV.
These EV-95 NiMH batteries, after years of research, were perfected for EVs:
Deep Cycle, no memory effect;
High energy output for acceleration;
Long lifetime, longer than the life of the car — even a Toyota car.
Toyota’s EV-95 batteries are still running Toyota RAV4-EV cars more than 20,000 miles per year, and for over 100,000 miles so far. But no more EV-95 batteries can be made, after Chevron sued Toyota.
In 1994, Stan Ovshinsky, the inventor of the NiMH battery and principal of Energy Conversion Devices with the late Dr. Iris Ovshinsky, sold control of the NiMH batteries to a jont venture, GM Ovonic, between GM and his company, with the goal of manufacturing patented NiMH batteries for EVs. Ostensibly, GM was supposed to go into production, and thus, it seemed, perhaps, natural to allow them control of the battery they would, supposedly, be using. In the event, Honda and Toyota used NiMH 4 years prior to GM’s final release of a NiMH version of the EV1.
But passing control of the batteries to GM proved a fatal mistake for the future of EVs.
GM announced on Oct. 10, 2000 the sale of the worldwide patent rights for the NiMH batteries to Texaco. Six days later, on Oct. 16, 2000, even before the sale was consumated, Texaco announced its merger into Chevron, the successor to Standard Oil of California. The sale of the batteries was finally concluded on July 17, 2001, long after Texaco had become one with Chevron.
Chevron/Texaco received “…GM’s 60 percent stake in [NiMH] batteries, and a 20 percent stake in ECD itself…”, giving Chevron effective control of NiMH.
In October 2000, Texaco Inc. bought GM’s 60% share in GM Ovonics Battery Systems, adding to their existing 20% share in the company,[17] and restructured the joint venture as a 50-50 partnership with ECD Ovonics, renamed Texaco Ovonic Battery Systems LLC.[18][19] Less than a week later, Texaco and Chevron Corporation announced a merger plan,[20] which was completed a year as they became ChevronTexaco Corporation.[21]
In 2004 this joint venture was renamed Cobasys LLC.[22]
In addition to holding a 50% share of Cobasys, Chevron holds a 19.99% interest in ECD Ovonics.[23] Chevron maintains veto power over any sale or licensing of Cobasys’ NiMH technology.[24] In addition, Chevron maintains the right to seize all of Cobasys’ intellectual property rights in the event that ECD Ovonics does not fulfill its contractual obligations.[24] On September 10, 2007, Chevron filed a legal claim that ECD Ovonics has not fulfilled its obligations. ECD Ovonics disputes this claim.[25] N/A
On Mar. 6, 2001, just months after inheriting control of NiMH batteries, Chevron’s associate/subsidiary cobasys filed suit against Toyota, Panasonic, their PEVE joint venture, Sanyo et al.
On December 12, 2001, Chevron’s affiliates filed an arbitration demand…with the International Chamber of Commerce…In December 2002, an arbitration agreement…on Nov. 4-19, 2003, the hearing was held, and concluded on Jan. 21, 2004.
On July 7, 2004, the settlement agreement ended in complete defeat for Toyota, Matsushita and their joint venture, PEVE. NiMH was only mentioned for “hybrids”, those which cannot plug in, and Cobasys, Chevron’s unit, became distributor of PEVE batteries, received $20 million licensing fee, in addition to $10 million paid to Energy Conversion Devices.
“Cobasys will also receive royalties through December 31, 2013 on certain NiMH batteries sold by [Toyota] in North America.”
Chevron oil, the successor to Standard Oil of California, thus worked with GM to eliminate the batteries needed for plug-in EVs, similar to how America’s small urban commuter railroads were bought up by the same surprising buyers. The railroads were dismantled, the right-of-way lost to the public domain, just as the NiMH batteries are now unavailable to run EVs or plug-in hybrids that can replace our oil addiction and address global warming concerns.
Until we move to plug-in cars and electric trains, any talk of dealing with climate change, decreasing oil use, or getting free of our oil addiction anemia, is a sham.
Chevron’s subsidiary sued Toyota, Panasonic and other battery makers, forcing a settlement agreement and $30,000,000 payment from Toyota to Chevron’s subsidiary.
Most importantly, Toyota’s NiMh EV-95 production line was closed down, and
No more EV-95 batteries are available for any purchaser at any price.
Toyota closed down their production line, and the batteries which power the RAV4-EV or the 1999 EV1 are no longer available. Chevron’s patent rights don’t expire until 2014.
When General Motors and oil companies claim “the batteries are not ready”, they are asking you to ignore the hundreds of 2001, 2002 and 2003 Toyota RAV4-EV still running on EV-95 NiMH batteries, faultlessly performing to the specs needed for plug-in EVs and plug-in hybrids.