Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

To: P. Ramamoorthy who wrote (26721)	8/18/2006 2:42:24 PM
From: Verns1	1 Recommendation Respond to of 27310

Ram Thanks again for your work. Vern

To: P. Ramamoorthy who wrote (26721)	8/18/2006 3:02:02 PM
From: Kirk ©	Respond to of 27310

Q8: Two basic questions with respect to plug in hybrid electric. Do you see it a viable business for VLNC? Do you see a major competitor emerging out there? Ans: A major battery competitor? (yes, with a competing technology?) There are other manufacturers looking at the phosphate chemistry. I do not see anyone capable of dropping in with the technology for the plug-in hybrid or EV or HEV applications at the present time. We are the only player that truly viable in that space with UCharge series. Plug-in hybrid has a fair amount of engineering to go before it will be ready. In that time it is ready to go, VLNC will have the right product and the right price point for that market. They are pursuing both EV and HEV markets, and watching the plug-in hybrid market. Thanks for posting that summary Tesla motors has a sports car that seems sold out at $100K each... I think they use someone else's battery. I've been trying to confirm this. See mercurynews.com and mercurynews.com for two recent articles in the SJ Mercury news. With Carl Berg owning so much land here, you'd think they would mention VLNC in the article if they used VLNC batteries.... but maybe they need to be educated? -g-

To: P. Ramamoorthy who wrote (26721)	8/27/2006 4:11:36 PM
From: shadownose	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 27310

Ram, many thanks for your diligence in reporting the VLNC cc's. I felt that this particular cc was pretty informative. We now know about the delays on the wheelchair and telecom backup deals with Graham Field & Tyco. VLNC appears to be moving on both fronts to examine these situations. The achievement of a positive gross margin indicates the company is moving in the right direction. Doubling the revs next quarter should result in an even larger gross margin as economies of scale start to kick in. We could begin to get a "feel" for a revenue figure which would lead to breakeven. IF the current Dell/Apple battery recall leads to an increase in N-Charge sales, it's possible that the company may not clear up the backlog as commented in the cc (a good problem to have). At this stage, current management has been fairly good on their revenue guidance - it would be nice to see them exceed the top range in the current quarter. Dr. A appears to be more focused on the production aspects of the company than previous teams. Hopefully that will continue, and the sales team will promote the product.