Obama allows Russia to take over U.S. Hi-Tech Co. w/Battlefield Communication Apps

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U.S. Taxpayers sunk millions into battery technology with military battlefield communication applications, but now the Obama Administration allows it to fall into Russian Hands!!!

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U.S.-Backed Battery Company's sale to Russian Tycoon

U.S. sunk millions into battery technology with military applications, but now it's in foreign hands

By Julie Wernau 9:05 a.m. CDT, April 8, 2012


Businessman Boris Zingarevich, left, with Sberbank head German Gref: Moscow Times

Batteries made in America for America and backed by America. That's how politicians hailed Ener1.

The company tapped the country's top scientists at Argonne National Lab in Illinois, and U.S. taxpayers pledged up to $118 million in federal stimulus funds and $80 million in state and local incentives to help Ener1 produce cutting-edge battery technology for electric cars and the U.S. military.

"This is about the future. And the question is which nation is going to seize the future. Some nation is going to grab it by the throat. One of the nations of the world is going to lead the world in green energy and technology," Vice President Joe Biden said in January 2011 in a speech praising federal support for Ener1 at its facility in Indiana.

That nation, it turns out, is Russia.

A little more than a year after Biden's visit to Ener1's Indiana manufacturing plant, the company's technology is owned outright by Boris Zingarevich, a Russian businessman with ties to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a fact that concerns some technology experts in the U.S.

Zingarevich acquired Ener1 out of bankruptcy March 30 with an agreement to infuse $81 million in financing, giving him a sophisticated line of batteries that can power electric cars, store electricity for power grids and supply portable power for soldiers. His plans for Ener1 aren't known. A company spokesman declined to comment, saying Ener1 is privately held. Zingarevich couldn't be reached for comment.

The deal for Ener1 shows how the global economy can blur the lines between private business and national interest.

While there have been instances of Russian nationals accused of using illegal means to acquire U.S. technology, U.S. government officials said there is no law that bans transferring technology paid for by U.S. taxpayers to foreigners.

Wealthy Russians are major investors in the U.S., owning stakes in companies such as Facebook and Twitter, and Zingarevich was Ener1's largest shareholder from the beginning in 2002. Yet there is a big difference between being a shareholder and gaining control of a company.

"In a company whose ownership is connected to Medvedev, you have a golden opportunity for a military technology transfer and, perhaps, civil transfer from the U.S. to Russia at no cost," said Stephen Blank, an expert on Russia and a research professor of national security affairs for the Strategic Studies Institute at the United States Army War College.

Under Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Blank said, Russia has expanded efforts to obtain high-tech energy-related technology from the U.S. through both illicit and legal means as Russia tries to reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons. Russia is second only to China in trying to gain high-tech information related to military uses, energy generation and manufacturing, according to the U.S. Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive.

In the case of Ener1, neither the Department of Energy nor the Navy checked on foreign ownership before awarding the company grants and research and development contracts. The Army, which also awarded contracts, said individual employees underwent routine background checks as contractors, but scrutinizing the company's ownership structure was not part of its purview.

The Department of Energy, in an email, said it was only interested in whether the company could successfully produce and sell its batteries. The Navy said it didn't place restrictions on foreign access to the company's work on unmanned aerial vehicles, a highly sought-after technology, according to the intelligence community, or to battery technology that could be used to track U.S. military personnel.

Despite the fact that the company's Russian investment didn't worry the DOE or Pentagon, others in the U.S. government were concerned about Russian participation for some time.

Citing national security concerns, U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, is seeking internal documents from the White House, Department of Energy, Ener1 and its EnerDel battery unit, his office confirmed.

"There is definitely a growing concern about a foreign-controlled or owned company attempting to gain a foothold into our supply chain in the United States," said Stearns, whose subcommittee held a hearing March 27 about such threats. "We need to make sure the federal government isn't an unwitting accomplice to the theft of our own national secrets by providing them with multimillion-dollar government grants,'' he said in a statement, referring to battery technology produced in concert with U.S. scientists.

The U.S. has been leery of foreign control of U.S. energy companies in the past. In 2005, a bid by a Chinese government-owned firm to purchase Unocal, then the ninth-largest U.S. oil and gas producer, set off a firestorm of political controversy. CNOOC Ltd. had outbid Chevron Corp. by about $1.5 billion for Unocal. But after concerns were raised that the transaction was little more than a thinly masked move by China to corner oil supplies, CNOOC withdrew its bid.

Ener1 marks the second major case of the U.S. losing control of a stimulus project. The Department of Energy's $535 million loan guarantee to Solyndra to produce solar panels was aimed at spurring alternative energy growth in the U.S. and to lessen dependence on fossil fuels. Instead, competition from China felled Solyndra last year, which left the U.S. to pay the bill.

"Instead of producing thousands of 'clean energy' jobs, the administration's loan guarantee and grant programs are yielding bankruptcies and the squandering of taxpayer dollars," Stearns said. "Only two days after President Obama highlighted federal investments in high-tech batteries in his State of the Union address earlier this year, Ener1 joined Solyndra, Beacon Power, Evergreen Solar, SpectraWatt and AES in bankruptcy — all recipients of taxpayer dollars."

Biden's office declined to comment and referred questions to the Energy Department.

Mary Anne Sullivan, who previously served as DOE general counsel and now heads law firm Hogan Lovells' energy regulatory practice in Washington, D.C., said: "You want the government to be where the private sector sees a risk they won't take. But it calls for judgment. There is no formula that tells you, "Yes, this will succeed,' or, 'No, this won't.'''

Ener1, based in New York City but with manufacturing operations in Indiana, began working on batteries for hybrid electric vehicles in June 2009. With the promise of creating manufacturing jobs, the company received access to Argonne scientists and DOE funding.

Theodore O'Neill, senior vice president of alternative energy for Wunderlich Securities, said it is unlikely the battery technology Ener1 developed was any more high-tech than what Russia had already acquired or developed.

Ilias Belharouak, an Argonne researcher who worked on the battery project, said the company didn't move forward with battery production because by then the auto industry had introduced plug-in vehicles, and the company's batteries were too heavy.

The technology, however, is ideally suited to storing energy for the electrical grid, said Belharouak. Such batteries can provide backup power as well as store energy produced by the wind and sun. "It has the safety, it has the power, and the cost of the technology is very, very attractive," Belharouak said.

In its March 31, 2011, filing, Ener1 listed the Russian electric grid as its largest battery customer. The company first agreed to supply lithium-ion battery units in 2010. Last fall, Charles Gassenheimer, then CEO, said the company was negotiating a second "substantially large order" from the Russians. That same year a Russian state-owned bank accepted 40 percent of Ener1's common stock as collateral for $24 million in loans, with an option to go up to $100 million total, according to filings.

Ener1 stood to reap $118.5 million from the DOE to produce batteries for electric vehicles. So far it has collected $55 million and could receive more if it adds to its U.S. workforce of 275 under its contract, according to the DOE.

In an emailed statement, the Energy Department said Ener1's project was selected "based on the merit and commercialization potential of its batteries.''

"We need to invent them here, make them here and sell them around the world. That's just what (the) battery manufacturing facility is doing, and that's why both the company and the project have received strong bipartisan support," Jen Stutsman, spokeswoman for the Energy Department, said last month.

The DOE added that during a financial due diligence check it did not find any issues requiring further investigation.

Michael Grosberg, chief operating officer of Global Technology Systems Inc., a Massachusetts-based maker of industrial and military batteries and energy control systems, said, "The U.S. government should act immediately to ensure more taxpayer dollars are not lost and U.S. security is not compromised.''

Technology experts are raising concerns about nearly $8 million in military contracts the company received, including a Navy contract for research and development related to unmanned aerial vehicles.

In 2006, according to filings, Ener1 also was awarded a $1 million Department of Defense contract for so-called asset tracking, a technology used to track people carrying battery-powered devices.

The tracking systems in military battery packs are designed to protect personnel. For instance, if a soldier stops moving, falls down or is running out of battery power, technology inside his or her radio automatically alerts a command center. The Navy said prototype batteries were produced but not used and do not pose a threat to U.S. military personnel or civilians.

But some believe the technology could pose a threat to national security, as it can be used to track troop movements or anyone who has devices that contain those batteries.

"I live in that world," said Daniel Engels, a chief technology officer for Revere Security, a technology security firm. "We need to stop thinking about batteries as just a battery. As soon as they become intelligent, they become a potential entry point into your system .''

Through such batteries, he said, an enemy could even remotely turn off lines of communication.

Russia ranks second to China in spying in the U.S., according to a 2011 report from the Office of National Counterintelligence Executive. The case that made the biggest splash occurred two years ago, when 10 agents of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Office were arrested after collecting information related to U.S. technology and intelligence. Other cases have involved bribes for automotive and helicopter technology, the report said.

Ener1's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicate steadily widening losses since 2008. In 2010, losses totaled $68.8 million on sales of $77.4 million.

The company's plans for those DOE-backed batteries were tied to Think Global, an Elkhart, Ind., maker of electric vehicles with the same Russian backers. When Think Global didn't find a market for its buglike vehicles, Ener1 in May 2011 wrote off its $73 million stake in the company.

The following month, Think Global filed for bankruptcy in Norway, listing $32 million it owed Ener1. Zingarevich bought the company at auction in July for an undisclosed sum.

The ramifications for Ener1 were profound. Ener1's share price tumbled to pennies, and its shares were delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Ener1, too, filed for bankruptcy in January, but it emerged March 30 in a transaction that canceled its shares and ceded control to Zingarevich.

Separately, the enforcement division of the SEC is investigating Ener1 for securities fraud after it failed to report its financial condition and business dealings. The company said in February that it was ordered to produce information as part of the investigation.

"We have emerged from bankruptcy with significantly less debt, more working capital and a stronger financial position to enable us to compete more effectively in pursuing business opportunities to provide energy storage solutions for electric grid, transportation and industrial applications," the company's interim CEO, Alex Sorokin, said in an announcement.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, whose goal was to make his state the capital of the electric car industry, has backed the company. His office Friday said Daniels "remains hopeful Ener1 will be successful.''

Bald and stocky with piercing blue eyes, the 52-year-old Zingarevich now controls Ener1. He is one of an elite group of Russian "oligarchs" whose resources are significant enough to influence national politics, according to a 2005 study in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

In 1992, he co-founded Ilim Pulp, one of Russia's largest pulp and paper companies. He remains on its board. In 1993, Ilim Pulp hired Medvedev as its legal affairs director. Medvedev, who at one point owned 20 percent of the company, helped it grow significantly. He sold his stake in 1999, the same year he took a central government post.

At about that same time period, several of Ilim Pulp's competitors were attacked or murdered under mysterious circumstances. Dimitry Varvarin, director general of Orimi, Ilim Pulp's major rival, was shot to death in St. Petersburg in March 2000. Later that month, another founder of Orimi, Sergei Krizhan, was also murdered, along with his son, according to news reports.

Later that year, a lumber exporter was attacked, and a hotel owned by another player in the timber market was set on fire. And in 2001 the external manager of another competitor was also attacked, according to Russian media.

None of the murders or attacks were tied to Zingarevich or Ilim Pulp.

While Zingarevich has kept a fairly low profile, his son, Anton Zingarevich, 29, hasn't been as publicity shy. In 2007, a year after he graduated with his bachelor's degree from Regents Business School in London, his father installed him as vice president of operations at Ener1 and CEO of a subsidiary, NanoEner.

Stories about Anton Zingarevich began to appear recently in publications such as the Daily Mail and the Reading Chronicle in England when he purchased a stake in a British football club for nearly $40 million. He also was in the limelight a little more than two years ago when he married Belarusian supermodel Yekaterina Domankova when she was 20 years old.

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Obama’s Investment in Ener1 Paid Off for Russia

April 11, 2012

By Lonely Conservative 3 comments

During his State of the Union speech President Obama touted the taxpayer “investment” into the green battery company Ener1. He said “In three years, our partnership with the private sector has already positioned America to be the world’s leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries.”

Two days later the company filed for bankruptcy. If it’s not bad enough that US taxpayers lost millions of dollars, there are also national security implications.

The company tapped the country’s top scientists at Argonne National Lab in Illinois, and U.S. taxpayers pledged up to $118 million in federal stimulus funds and $80 million in state and local incentives to help Ener1 produce cutting-edge battery technology for electric cars and the U.S. military.

“This is about the future. And the question is which nation is going to seize the future. Some nation is going to grab it by the throat. One of the nations of the world is going to lead the world in green energy and technology,” Vice President Joe Biden said in January 2011 in a speech praising federal support for Ener1 at its facility in Indiana.

That nation, it turns out, is Russia.

A little more than a year after Biden’s visit to Ener1′s Indiana manufacturing plant, the company’s technology is owned outright by Boris Zingarevich, a Russian businessman with ties to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a fact that concerns some technology experts in the U.S. (Read More)

In a video report accompanying the above article, the reporter described Zingarevich as a Russian oligarch who holds great sway over the Russian government. Zingarevich was already a huge investor in Ener1, which is something the Obama administration was surely aware of. Russia was also one of Ener1′s biggest customers. Now the Russians can possibly use these “intelligent” batteries to track the locations of US troops.

According to American Thinker, Republican Congressman Cliff Stearns is investigating this matter. I certainly hope he’s not the only one. Perhaps he won’t be, as American Crossroads issued the following statement today:

Following on the heels of President Obama’s claim that he would have “more flexibility” on foreign policy deals with Russia after winning re-election, Russian oligarch Boris Zingarevich, who once employed now-Russian President Medvedev, has acquired full control of bankrupt stimulus recipient and “green energy” failure Ener1.

Once heralded by the Obama Administration as one of the “Top 100 Recovery Act Projects Changing America,” Ener1 filed for bankruptcy in January, and was purchased by Zingarevich on March 30. The company was promised $118.5 million of stimulus money, half of which has already been paid, and the remainder of which may still be given away even after Russian control has been taken.

Vice President Biden ironically (or prophetically?) said at the Ener1 manufacturing facility about this technology, “This is about the future. And the question is which nation is going to seize the future. Some nation is going to grab it by the throat.”

Russia has answered Biden’s challenge in true Putin style.

“This acquisition is yet another example of the failure of the President to steward taxpayer dollars wisely, and now taxpayer-funded technology is in the hands of one of Vladimir Putin’s cronies,” said American Crossroads President and CEO Steven Law. “America can’t afford to give President Obama another term with flexibility to continue putting our country at risk.”

Ener1’s bankruptcy and acquisition by Russia is not only an economic failure for President Obama, but a national security failure as well, representing the latest attempt by Putin’s regime to seize American technology.

What a disgrace! Obama’s has to be the most destructive presidency in US history.

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Obama Transmits Stimulus Money To Vladimir’s Regime

April 11, 2012 By American Crossroads

Bankrupt “Green Energy” Company Acquired by Russian Oligarch with Ties to Putin

WASHINGTON – Following on the heels of President Obama’s claim that he would have “more flexibility” on foreign policy deals with Russia after winning re-election, Russian oligarch Boris Zingarevich, who once employed now-Russian President Medvedev, has acquired full control of bankrupt stimulus recipient and “green energy” failure Ener1.

Once heralded by the Obama Administration as one of the “Top 100 Recovery Act Projects Changing America,” Ener1 filed for bankruptcy in January, and was purchased by Zingarevich on March 30. The company was promised $118.5 million of stimulus money, half of which has already been paid, and the remainder of which may still be given away even after Russian control has been taken.

Vice President Biden ironically (or prophetically?) said at the Ener1 manufacturing facility about this technology, “This is about the future. And the question is which nation is going to seize the future. Some nation is going to grab it by the throat.” Russia has answered Biden’s challenge in true Putin style.

“This acquisition is yet another example of the failure of the President to steward taxpayer dollars wisely, and now taxpayer-funded technology is in the hands of one of Vladimir Putin’s cronies,” said American Crossroads President and CEO Steven Law. “America can’t afford to give President Obama another term with flexibility to continue putting our country at risk.”

Ener1’s bankruptcy and acquisition by Russia is not only an economic failure for President Obama, but a national security failure as well, representing the latest attempt by Putin’s regime to seize American technology.

###

Key Data Points on This Developing Story…

Battery Maker Ener1 Filed For Bankruptcy After Taking Millions Of Taxpayer Dollars

In August 2009, EnerDel Was Awarded At $118.5 Million Government Grant. “EnerDel, maker of lithium-ion battery systems, landed a $118.5 million energy grant in August 2009. About one-and-a-half years later, Vice President Joe Biden toured a company plant in Indiana and heralded its taxpayer-supported expansion as one of the ‘100 Recovery Act Projects That Are Changing America.’”(Ronnie Greene and Matthew Mosk. “Green Firms Get Fed Cash, Give Execs Bonuses, Fail,” ABC News, 3/6/12)

In January 2012, EnerDel’s Parent Company, Ener1 Filed For Bankruptcy. “The parent company of an electric car battery maker that received more than $100 million in government funding from the Obama administration has filed for bankruptcy protection, the company announced Thursday. … EnerDel, a subsidiary of Ener1 dedicated to making batteries for electric cars, was awarded a $118 million grant from the Energy Department in 2009 as part of President Obama’s economic stimulus package and green energy push.” (Lee Ferran and Matthew Mosk, “Ener1, Parent Of Obama-Backed Green Company, Files For Bankruptcy,” ABC News, 1/27/12)

The Obama Administration Touted Ener1 As The Future Of American Green Technology

Funded By The Stimulus, The Obama Administration Called The Ener1 Grant One Of The “100 Recovery Act Projects That Are Changing America.” “The Ener1 grant, among $2.4 billion in federal awards to spur the electric car industry, was announced by Obama in August 2009 in Elkhart, Ind. In a September 2010 report, the White House featured subsidiary Ener¬Del as one of the ‘100 Recovery Act Projects that are Changing America.’” (Carol Leonnig, “Obama-Backed Car Battery Company Files For Bankruptcy Protection,” The Washington Post, 1/26/12)

During A Speech At Ener1, Vice President Biden Said The Ener1 Grant Was About “Which Nation Is Going To Seize The Future” Of Green Energy Technology. ‘”This is about the future. And the question is which nation is going to seize the future. Some nation is going to grab it by the throat. One of the nations of the world is going to lead the world in green energy and technology,’ Vice President Joe Biden said in January 2011 in a speech praising federal support for Ener1 at its facility in Indiana.” (Julie Wernau, “U.S.-Backed Battery Company’s Sale To Russian Tycoon Sparks Anxiety,” Chicago Tribune, 4/8/12)

• Biden “This Administration Is Forging A New Path Forward By Making Sure America Doesn’t Just Lead In The 21st Century, But Dominates In The 21st Century.” “In his State of the Union address last night, President Obama highlighted his goal of making the United States the first country in the world to put one million advanced technology vehicles on the road by 2015. Following a tour of the Ener1, Inc. factory today, the Vice President met with workers to discuss the Administration’s new plan for reaching that ambitious goal. ‘As you heard President Obama say last night, this Administration is forging a new path forward by making sure America doesn’t just lead in the 21st Century, but dominates in the 21st Century,’ said Vice President Biden. ‘We’re not just creating new jobs—but sparking whole new industries that will ensure our competitiveness for decades to come—industries like electric vehicle manufacturing.’” (Vice President Joe Biden, Vice President Biden Announces Plan To Put One Million Advanced Technology Vehicles On The Road By 2015, Press Release, 1/26/11)

But, Now Ener1 Is Owned By A Russian Oligarch With Ties To The Russian Government

Russian Businessman, Boris Zingarevich “Acquired Ener1 Out Of Bankruptcy” In March 2012. “A little more than a year after Biden’s visit to Ener1′s Indiana manufacturing plant, the company’s technology is owned outright by Boris Zingarevich, a Russian businessman with ties to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a fact that concerns some technology experts in the U.S. Zingarevich acquired Ener1 out of bankruptcy March 30 with an agreement to infuse $81 million in financing, giving him a sophisticated line of batteries that can power electric cars, store electricity for power grids and supply portable power for soldiers. His plans for Ener1 aren’t known. A company spokesman declined to comment, saying Ener1 is privately held.” (Julie Wernau, “U.S.-Backed Battery Company’s Sale To Russian Tycoon Sparks Anxiety,” Chicago Tribune, 4/8/12)

• Zingarevich Is “One Of An Elite Group Of Russian ‘Oligarchs’’’ “Bald and stocky with piercing blue eyes, the 52-year-old Zingarevich now controls Ener1. He is one of an elite group of Russian ‘oligarchs’ whose resources are significant enough to influence national politics, according to a 2005 study in the Journal of Economic Perspectives. (Julie Wernau, “U.S.-Backed Battery Company’s Sale To Russian Tycoon Sparks Anxiety,” Chicago Tribune, 4/8/12)

Zingarevich Employed Russian President Dmitry Medvedev As Legal Affair Director At A Paper Company He Co-Founded in The 1990s. “Bald and stocky with piercing blue eyes, the 52-year-old Zingarevich now controls Ener1. He is one of an elite group of Russian ‘oligarchs’ whose resources are significant enough to influence national politics, according to a 2005 study in the Journal of Economic Perspectives. In 1992, he co-founded Ilim Pulp, one of Russia’s largest pulp and paper companies. He remains on its board. In 1993, Ilim Pulp hired Medvedev as its legal affairs director. Medvedev, who at one point owned 20 percent of the company, helped it grow significantly. He sold his stake in 1999, the same year he took a central government post.” (Julie Wernau, “U.S.-Backed Battery Company’s Sale To Russian Tycoon Sparks Anxiety,” Chicago Tribune, 4/8/12)

• During Medvedev’s Employment, Several Of The Company’s Competitors Were Murdered “Under Mysterious Circumstances.” “At about that same time period, several of Ilim Pulp’s competitors were attacked or murdered under mysterious circumstances. Dimitry Varvarin, director general of Orimi, Ilim Pulp’s major rival, was shot to death in St. Petersburg in March 2000. Later that month, another founder of Orimi, Sergei Krizhan, was also murdered, along with his son, according to news reports.” (Julie Wernau, “U.S.-Backed Battery Company’s Sale To Russian Tycoon Sparks Anxiety,” Chicago Tribune, 4/8/12)

Russia Has Long Sought To Acquire American Energy Technology

Russia “Has Expanded Efforts To Obtain High-Tech Energy-Related Technology From The U.S. Through Both Illicit And Legal Means,” Since Putin Has Been In Power. “Under Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Blank said, Russia has expanded efforts to obtain high-tech energy-related technology from the U.S. through both illicit and legal means as Russia tries to reduce its reliance on hydrocarbons. Russia is second only to China in trying to gain high-tech information related to military uses, energy generation and manufacturing, according to the U.S. Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive.” (Julie Wernau, “U.S.-Backed Battery Company’s Sale To Russian Tycoon Sparks Anxiety,” Chicago Tribune, 4/8/12)

Russia Ranks Near The Top Of All Countries “Spying In The U.S.” “Russia ranks second to China in spying in the U.S., according to a 2011 report from the Office of National Counterintelligence Executive. The case that made the biggest splash occurred two years ago, when 10 agents of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Office were arrested after collecting information related to U.S. technology and intelligence. Other cases have involved bribes for automotive and helicopter technology, the report said.” (Julie Wernau, “U.S.-Backed Battery Company’s Sale To Russian Tycoon Sparks Anxiety,” Chicago Tribune, 4/8/12)

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Debtor-in-Chief’s Merry Path of American Destruction

Posted on April 10, 2012 by onesmtcookie

As our Debtor-in-Chief states… he is looking for more “flexibility” in his second term: more non-recess recess appointments, more executive orders, more innovations from commissars, and his most frightful bore: budgets. Especially as in the last three years, this Debtor piles on roughly a trillion dollars of new debt every seven or eight months with no plans whatsoever to do anything about this, no way, not now, not ever.

His Department of Energy used stimulus money to fund an electric battery company called Ener1. Actually, they did create some cutting-edge technology before following the other greenies into bankruptcy. But here’s the story behind the story you don’t read much about – Obama’s ties to Russia.

Boris Zingarevich was an investor in Ener1 when Obama’s team gave it over $100 million. So when the company went belly-up, he was in the perfect position to seize control through the bankruptcy process. Now the technology developed with our taxpayer dollars is freely available to Vladimir Putin and company; a gift from BHO.

“Incompetency” would be the kinder word for this, but closer to the truth is “Treason”. Joe Biden praised federal funding for Ener1 and said this was a question of “which nation is going to seize the future”. It seems the answer will be Russia. Zingarevich’s infusion of $81 million in financing, gave him a sophisticated line of batteries that can power electric cars, store electricity for power grids, and supply portable power for soldiers.

True to form, neither the DEA nor the Navy checked on foreign ownership in the case of Ener1 before awarding the company grants and research development contracts. The Army, which also awarded contracts, said individual employees underwent routine background checks as contractors, but “ownership structure” was not part of its purview.

Debtor-in-Chief Obama highlighted federal investments in high-tech batteries in his State of the Union address earlier this year. Not surprising that Ener1 joined Solyndra, Beacon Power, Evergreen Solar, Spectra Watt and AES into bankruptcy – all recipients of our tax dollars. It seems BHO just can’t give our money way fast enough.

Consider all the expense BHO is saving on his KGB International Spy Program. He doesn’t have to dispatch covert infiltrators because he is an out-of-the-closet World Leader Apprentice conducting espionage in broad daylight.

But hey – look how great all these games benefit U.S.–Russian relations.

[American Patriot]

Ener1 was the one that went to hell in a handbasket, right after Solyndra if I remember rightly.

So this was a BIG farce to give shit away?

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The implications with everything else this Administration has done up to now makes it nearly mind boggling.

Then to wrap you head around all the events collectively shows a much more more sinister operation in the dismantling of America as we know it.

[American Patriot]

The problem Vector is that those of us "wrapping our heads" around this are considered kooks these days.

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Companion Thread: Obama allows China to acquire battery maker A123 Systems

Hybrid electric and fuel cells make into Russian military

Today, 05:52



Hybrid electric and fuel cells


EMILY fuel cell system 3000 has a rated output of 125 W and a charge capacity day 6 kWh. It can be recharged several batteries or perform the functions of the field generator. The system has been specifically designed for military applications including test scenarios in which data on new defense systems must be collected and evaluated in field conditions

Ultimately, the hybrid power plant offering comparable or even better benefits for armored vehicles. While fuel efficiency by at least historically top of the list was not mandatory features of armored vehicles, however, it does increase the distance and / or duration of a given fuel capacity, increases load capacity, fire protection or for a given total power weight and generally reduce the overall logistics burden on machine park.

Hybrid electric drive can play an important role in the future of military vehicles, but the relevant cancellation and a reduction of many defense programs (do not forget the famous FCS and FRES) and the struggle for urgent compliance with the requirements for protected vehicles pushed its introduction to military vehicles indefinitely.

However, when the candidates for the US ground combat vehicle GCV (Ground Combat Vehicle) were announced in January 2011, one of them was a project team from BAE Systems / Northrop Grumman hybrid electric power unit with the system EX-DRIVE from Qinetiq. This can be viewed as a sort of a gamble because none of the applicants for the program to easy for tactical vehicle JLTV (Joint Light Tactical Vehicle), which included electric and hybrid, did not pass the final due to the fact that in the US Army from the available data believe that the technology for the machine is not yet ripe enough at this point of time. Those, however, the history of hybrid electric vehicles in ground combat has a sufficient number of programs to develop and demonstrate the technology. There is something inexorable and inevitable in the global effort to implement a technology that promises to save fuel, improve performance and vitality and at the same time meet the growing demand for on-board electricity. This is undoubtedly reinforced by parallel developments in the automotive industry, is pushing legislation on environmental protection.

Manufacturers and suppliers of military vehicles systems to them a lot invested in this technology, often pushed by the above-mentioned kind of ambitious government programs before faced with extreme uncertainty inherent in long-term government plans. Companies AM General, BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Hagglunds, MillenWorks and Qinetiq developed hybrid electric drives for the British, American and Swedish programs, while the Nexter working on a program to develop technology ARCHYBALD, designed for heavy-duty vehicles, civilian and military.

Hybrid electric and fuel cells


Motorized mission EX-DRIVE for tracked vehicles from QinetiQ, lightweight, compact and efficient system

hybrid precursors

Hybrid power plants firmly settled in warships, particularly on submarines, trains and heavy trucks used in mining and open-cast mining. In these applications, a prime mover such as a diesel engine, gas turbine, or even both systems actuated generator which generates current for the drive motor and battery charging. Some systems include a transmission for transmitting the mechanical energy to side gears, while in others they are completely eliminated.

In warships hybrid power plants allow the use of complex and widely varying velocity profiles, while the prime mover operated in an effective speed range: electric motors for silent movement, diesel engines for normal traffic, gas turbines to speed, etc. Submarine actuated conventional method can not start a prime mover during the dive (unless a snorkel) and therefore must rely primarily on airindependent battery or other power unit. Giant digging motion relying on enormous torque from zero r / min produced in electric motors due to the fact that the mechanical transmission, which could perform a similar operation will be huge, complex and expensive. Trains are the same problem even more so because they must pull a few hundred tons per location in many cases up to speeds in excess of 150 miles per hour.

The hybrid propulsion system can save fuel by allowing the use without derating smaller more economical prime mover because the system when fully retracted driver pedal "gas" complements the engine motors, powered by battery. Electric actuators also allow drown prime mover when driving at low speeds, when it may be relatively ineffective. Modern hybrid vehicles can also accumulate kinetic energy (for example by the regenerative braking system) and used to charge its batteries. Additional savings are achieved through the work of the prime mover most of the time in the most efficient speed range, as well as the use of any additional energy for charging the battery and / or powering on-board electricity consumers.

Modern military machine requires more electrical power for communication systems, command and control equipment, sensors, surveillance and reconnaissance, such as optoelectronics and radar, remotely controlled weapon stations and silencing of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Advanced systems, such as electric armor, further increase the consumption. Using all the installed power for the operation of electrical systems, in theory at least, better than to have a single system for motion and another for specialized equipment.

More and more emphasis is placed on the ability to monitor and collect information in counterinsurgency tasks, and in this regard, requirements for noiseless observation put forward in a growing number of programs for armored vehicles. This further increases the importance of the electric power consumption and making the fuel cells more attractive.

Electric hybrid system are divided into two broad categories: parallel and serial. In parallel systems, the internal combustion engine and an electric motor (or motors) rotating wheels or tracks through the gearbox, either separately or together. In serial hybrid systems prime mover drives the generator only. Consistent system easier, all the driving power it has to go through the motor and therefore they should be larger motors in parallel system under the same requirements for the machine's performance. Systems have been developed both.


Hybrid electric and fuel cells

Innovations in hybrid-electric drive and in fuel cells can be taken from commercial technologies. For example, BAE Systems produces hybrid electric buses, of which the technology can be used to demonstrate the energy efficiency and improved emissions characteristics of modern hybrid electric vehicles intended for heavy-duty enhanced survivability

Hybrid systems also increase the survivability due to more flexible layout and exceptions drivetrain components, which could be a side shell with a landmine or IED. Especially benefit from this wheeled armored vehicles. With the integration of the drive motors in the wheel hubs, all drive shafts, differentials, drive shafts and gears, which are associated with traditional manual transmissions, deleted and replaced by the power cables so they can not be additional rounds. Excluding all of these mechanisms also allows the department to raise the crew on the ground at a given height of the machine, which makes passengers less vulnerable to explosions under the body. This type of design was used in the demonstrator General Dynamics UK AHED 8x8 wheeled version of the machine and SEP from BAE Systems / Hagglunds, tracked version of which was also made (and subsequently safely forgotten).

Electric motors built into the individual wheel allow you to control the power supplied to each wheel and is very accurate, according to the company GD UK, almost eliminates the advantages of tracks over the wheels on increased off-road terrain.

Prospective ground combat vehicle will move on tracks and offer BAE Systems / Northrop Grumman indicated that the electrical transmission EX-DRIVE from Qinetiq is lighter, more compact and more efficient than traditional transmissions. It also allows for improved acceleration, along with fault tolerance and configured for a wide range of machines and software technology adoption, the company says.

Although the system includes four permanent magnet motor, power transmission in the EX-DRIVE is not fully electric; Regen power when turning and shifting mechanical, recently using claw coupling. This scheme is a solution with a low risk, minimizing the load in engines, gears, shafts and bearings. Use of a cross-shafts for the regeneration of mechanical power in the swing mechanism is an alternative to the use of independent driving wheels in a purely electric powertrain.

One of the innovations in the heart of EX-DRIVE is the central gearbox (known as differential adjustment), which integrates the motor torque steering moment the main engine and the previously mentioned mechanical control mechanism for recovery. In addition, to minimize twisting loads it eliminates bulkiness and weight of the external cross-shaft used in traditional solutions, and other systems with hybrid power.

Advances in Electrical

Electric motors with permanent magnets are in technology, which in recent years has greatly improved the efficiency and power density of electric drive systems for all applications. Permanent magnet motors when creating a magnetic field in the stator components are based on naturally occurring powerful magnets of rare earth metals, rather than the current-carrying coils (electromagnets). This makes more efficient engines in particular due to the fact that the rotor must only supply an electric current.

Modern power electronics is also a key technology for hybrid electric vehicles of all types. Motor controllers based on Insulated-gate bipolar transistor, for example, regulate the flow of energy from a battery, generator or fuel cell stack to determine the rotational speed and the output torque of the motor. They are much more effective in comparison with electromechanical control systems and significantly improve the performance of electric variable speed - much less mature technology compared to a fixed speed electric drives, which are widely used in industry.

Company of New Jersey TDI Power is an example of an investor to invest in power electronics liquid cooling for electric and hybrid vehicles for civilian and military applications. The company produces standard modular DC converters and inverters that exceed current standards SAE and MIL.

The actuators in military vehicles will benefit from extensive research on variable speed drives for industry, fueled by the prospect of a total energy savings of about 15-30%, which can be realized if the machine with fixed mechanism will be replaced by a variable speed drive for most of the industrial customers, as set out in a recent study commissioned by the University of Newcastle UK Department of Science and Innovation. "Increasing the potential effectiveness of loads on the drive, as planned, will save the UK 15 billion kilowatt hours per year, and in combination with an increase in engine efficiency and drive overall savings of 24 billion kWh" - the study says.

One of the important ways to improve the efficiency of power transmission in any electrical system is to increase the voltage, as Ohm's law dictates that for any given power, the higher the voltage, the lower the current. Small currents can pass through thin wires that allow compact, lightweight electrical systems provide the necessary load. That is why in the national energy use very high voltage power transmission; British power grid, for example, operate their transmission lines at voltages up to 400,000 volts.

It is unlikely that the electrical systems of military vehicles will be used voltage such quantities, but the days of 28-volt electrical systems, and the like, appear to be numbered. In 2009, for example, the British Ministry of Defense has selected Qinetiq Research generation and distribution of electric power technology with 610 volts. The company Qinetiq heads the team, which includes BAE Systems and specialist in electrical machines Provector Ltd, which converted the BMP WARRIOR 2000 demonstrator capable of power the consumer with high demands 610 volts and 28 volts existing equipment. The machine is equipped with two generators of 610 volts, each of which provides twice as much energy as compared with the original generator of the machine, it actually increases fourfold output electric power Warrior.

Power for the vehicle using the fuel cell from the company SFC


Hybrid electric and fuel cells

Soldiers in the field need a reliable source of energy for their cars. He must submit a current board device such as a radio, communications equipment, weapons systems and optical electronic systems. But if necessary, it should also work as a charging station for soldiers on the job.

Often there is no possibility to run when the task engine to charge the battery in connection with the fact that it can reveal the location units can. Therefore, soldiers need a way to produce an electric current - quietly, consistently and independently.

EMILY 2200 system is based on the company's successful SFC fuel cell technology EFOY. Installed on the machine, EMILY unit ensures that the batteries are constantly charged. Its built-in controller constantly monitors the battery voltage and, if necessary, automatically recharges the batteries. It is silent and the only "exhaust" are water vapor and carbon dioxide in an amount comparable to the breathing of the child.

Hybrid electric and fuel cells

Large-scale machine requires large batteries. This package is a lithium-ion battery technology is part of a hybrid propulsion bus company BAE Systems

Fuel cells are possible?

Fuel cells using chemical processes for the direct conversion of fuel into electricity with high efficiency, long seen as a technology that can be widely used in the military sphere, including bringing the car in motion, and the generation of electricity on board. However, there are significant technical hurdles that must be overcome. Firstly, to operate the fuel cells and hydrogen is mixed with oxygen from air to produce electrical power as a byproduct. Hydrogen is not as readily available, it is difficult to store and transport.

There are many examples of fuel cell powering the electric vehicles, but they are experimental. In the automotive world from Honda FCX CLARITY preparedness is probably the closest to a commercial product, but it is only available in areas where there is a hydrogen refueling infrastructure and only lease agreements. Even leading manufacturers of fuel cells, such as Ballard Power recognize the current limitations of this technology for use in automobiles. The company said that the "serial mass production of vehicles in the fuel cell is in the long run. Today, most automakers believe that serial production of fuel cell vehicles is not feasible until about 2020, due to the fact that the industry is facing issues of hydrogen distribution, optimize durability, energy density, without the possibility of starting the heating and the cost of fuel cells. "

Hybrid electric and fuel cells