Independent Test Lab Confirms ZEUS Motor's High Efficiency.

February 3, 2017, Wheat Ridge, Colorado—Tom Hopkins, the CEO and CTO of Zero E Technologies, the developer and manufacturer of the ZEUS Motor is pleased to announce that a 15 HP version of its ZEUS Motor™ was tested by an independent certified lab, Advanced Energy, based in Raleigh, NC.  AE's test results confirmed the motor's extraordinarily high efficiency.  

With the adoption of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals in Paris in December 2015, and the commitment of 186 countries to reduce their emissions, the era of high efficiency motors has dawned.  The average efficiency of the world's stock of electric motors is just 84%, meaning that 16% of the electric power used to power motors is wasted--mainly as heat. This is an enormous waste considering that almost half (46%) of all electric energy generated, worldwide, is used to power electric motors.  The fastest way for a government to reduce emissions, as they have committed to do, is to mandate the use of high efficiency motors and to incentivize their purchase.  The cleanest energy of all is the energy we don’t need to generate when we are using high efficiency motors.  The future is with high efficiency motors.

AE's tests of the ZEUS Motor™ showed that it is 4.3% more efficient that an IE3/NEMA Premium® efficient induction motor when operated by a Variable Speed Drive (95.5% vs 91.2%), and 4.5% more efficient when tested without a VSD (96.9% Vs 92.4%).  When operating with a full load but at slow speeds, the ZEUS Motor ™ was over 18% more efficient.  Dr. Keith Klontz, a consultant who worked with Zero E on the motor's development described it as an "almost unheard-of improvement in the world of electric machines.”

Late Breaking News: Technical Paper on ZEUS Motor Accepted for Prestigious Conference

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has accepted a paper submitted by Dr. Klontz on the ZEUS Motor™, "Permanent Magnet Motor with Tested Efficiency Beyond Ultra-Premium/ IE5 Levels".  This paper will be presented to the ACEEE's 2017 Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry, a conference that will be held in Denver Colorado, in June 2017.  The ACEEE acts as a catalyst to advance energy efficiency policies, programs, technologies, investments, and behaviors.

The efficiency of motors is denoted by four industry-accepted standards, beginning with the lowest and rising to the highest (best): IE1/Standard, IE2/High, IE3/Premium, and IE4/Super Premium.  The US and EU authorities wish to institute a new, higher efficiency level, IE5/Ultra Premium.  But no conventional induction motor has achieved this efficiency level.  But the ZEUS Motor™ is already 2.1% more efficient than the proposed IE5/Ultra efficiency (96.9% Vs 94.8% proposed for a 15 HP motor).  The ZEUS Motor™ is believed to be the most efficient general purpose industrial motor ever developed.

Download the paper here.

About Zero E Technologies

Zero E Technologies designs, develops, and manufactures highly efficient permanent magnet motors, known as the ZEUS Motor™ using a platform that is readily adapted to a range of power outputs. The Company seeks more efficient power use, i.e., less energy wastage, to help developing nations grow sustainably.  

The ZEUS Motor™ is in the process of being commercialized. According to an IEA study, the market opportunity where Zero E will compete is enormous with 40 million new, medium-sized motors (1 to 500 HP) procured each year, representing a $150 billion market.  Zero E's immediate market is the 7 million 10 to 30 HP motors procured each year that Zero E is already introducing to the market.

The ZEUS Motor™ offers very high efficiency, small size, robustness, and is potentially less expensive to manufacture than conventional motors. Moreover, it is potentially disruptive of major markets. Zero E is currently targeting OEMs that use motors in their products (fans, pumps, compressors, conveyors, etc.) and that account for 60% of new motor sales.  Zero E aims to “blitzscale” by going international with local partners serving other countries and regions. For more information, please visit http://www.zeroetech.com/.

Contact:
Tom Hopkins, CEO
Zero E Technologies
Email: Hopkins@zeroetech.com
Phone: 970.390.6607

Blitzscaling the World... Global Strategy for Rolling Out the ZEUS Motor™

February 8, 2017, Wheat Ridge, Colorado—Tom Hopkins, the CEO and CTO of Zero E Technologies, the developer and manufacturer of the ZEUS Motor™ that has important advantages over conventional motors--more efficient, smaller, more robust, and potentially less expensive--has announced plans to "blitzscale" the introduction of its motor worldwide.  Blitzscaling is the rapid, global introduction of a new and innovative product that can completely disrupt the market.  Its goal is to build market share quickly.

The worldwide market for motors is enormous; 46% of all electricity generated worldwide is used to power electric motors.  The current market for mid-sized motors (1 to 500 HP)--Zero E's target market--is 40 million units/year, a $150 billion market.  Zero E is currently rolling out its 10 to 30 HP motors.  The market is projected to grow rapidly as developing countries industrialize, and as high efficiency motors take over.  Zero E's ZEUS Motor™ may be the most efficient general purpose motor ever developed--it has the potential to capture a significant market share.

Tom Hopkins explained how Zero E is going to blitzscale the world motor market: "We are setting up locally incorporated companies in major countries, e.g., India, and in trading blocks such as the EU, the ASEAN countries, and the GCC.  The idea is to get behind national and free trade group borders and circumvent the nationalism and protectionism that is raising its ugly head in some parts of the world.  We plan to endow these local companies with valuable marketing and manufacturing rights to the ZEUS Motor™.   We'll sell off 50.1% of these companies to local investors so the local company is majority owned and controlled by local interests.”

Tom Hopkins went on to explain Zero E's two-for-the price-of-one strategy: "Our response to global warming is to create opportunities that will reward investors handsomely, whether or not they are into green investments. All of the private sector wants lucrative investments and that is what we have focussed on offering.  With developing countries seeking growth, and with high efficiency motors being an attractive path to sustainable development, we expect our investors to do very well.  Do well while doing good... that's our key!”

About Zero E Technologies

Zero E Technologies designs, develops, and manufactures highly efficient permanent magnet motors, known as the ZEUS Motor™ using a platform that is readily adapted to a range of power outputs. The Company seeks more efficient power use, i.e., less energy wastage, to help developing nations grow sustainably.  

The ZEUS Motor™ is in the process of being commercialized. According to an IEA study, the market opportunity where Zero E will compete is enormous with 40 million new, medium-sized motors (1 to 500 HP) procured each year, representing a $150 billion market.  Zero E's immediate market is the 7 million 10 to 30 HP motors procured each year that Zero E is already introducing to the market.

The ZEUS Motor™ offers very high efficiency, small size, robustness, and is potentially less expensive to manufacture than conventional motors. Moreover, it is potentially disruptive of major markets. Zero E is currently targeting OEMs that use motors in their products (fans, pumps, compressors, conveyors, etc.) and that account for 60% of new motor sales.  Zero E aims to “blitzscale” by going international with local partners serving other countries and regions. For more information, please visit http://www.zeroetech.com/.

Contact:
Tom Hopkins, CEO
Zero E Technologies
Email: Hopkins@zeroetech.com
Phone: 970.390.6607

Monaco Growth Forums

The Zero E press release has been placed on the Monaco Growth Forums website (https://monacogrowthforums.com/2017/01/zero-e-technologies-to-unveil-transformative-product-at-upcoming-monaco-growth-forums-u-a-e-tech-tour/), posted on our social media, and was released in our bi-weekly newsletter, MGF Connect, which was sent Friday, February 3rd. It is also scheduled for individual release on Monday, February 6th.

THE FUTURE AVAILABILITY & PRICE OF RARE EARTH PERMANENT MAGNETS

You may recall that in 2011, the Chinese were playing games with the price of rare earth permanent magnets - they completely cut off Japan for awhile.  The price of rare earth PMs sky rocketed.  The whole world was rushing around wondering what to do.  

The big question was on the availability and future price of rare earth magnets.

Other Company's Response.  Some other companies that make motors bet that rare earth PMs would remain at sky high prices and they scrambled to develop alternative PMs, such as ceramic ferrite magnets.  The problem is that ferrite magnets are not very powerful, their magnetic strength is about 1/3 that of a rare earth PM.  So they had to make the magnets big and heavy to make up for their low magnetic strength, and that made their motors big and heavy too.

Zero E's Response.  Back in 2011, Zero E’s board discussed this issue at some length: should we change our focus to ferrite or ceramic magnets?  I counseled that we hold our course and suggested that the price of rare earths would soon fall.  I cited a 1981 article in The Economist about the Club of Rome's report on the future availability of natural resources.  I summarized one argument that The Economist had made as follows:

Our capitalist system over-reacts when there is a well publicized shortage and everyone can see that the price of some commodity is going to rise dramatically.  All sorts of companies jump in and look for more supplies, for substitutes... so they can benefit from the coming windfall.  And what usually happens?  In several years there is a glut and the price collapses.

We bet that that the international publicity of the impending shortage and price rise would cause people to rush in and look for more deposits of rare earths (lots were found in Australia, Greenland, in the US, and on the pacific ocean seabed between Hawaii & Tahiti), that new processing mills would start up and old ones restart (e.g., Mount Weld in South Australia, Mountain Pass in California), and that other parties would look for substitutes (e.g., ceramic ferrite magnets).  We were betting that the price of rare earths would collapse.  

What Actually Happened?

Below is a plot that shows what actually happened to the price of Neodymium Oxide, the key indicator of the price of rare earth PMs:

The price collapsed as we predicted. The price of rare earths today, is what it was back in 2008. In real terms, it is about 25% less.

Rare earths are not rare... they are everywhere and there is little reason to expect that the price will rise significantly any time in the near future.  So much so that Molycorp - that had jumped in and brought the Mountain Pass mine in anticipation of high prices for rare earth PMs - found that the actual collapse in prices forced it into bankruptcy.

Zero E's ZEUS Motor uses rare earth PMs, and this is one reason for the ZEUS Motor's extraordinarily high efficiency, small physical size, and robustness.  The cost of our PMs is less than 30% of the cost of the electromagnets used in our motor.  The cost of our motor's PMs is not a significant factor in the pricing of our motor. 

The Paris Accords are Good for Zero-E

The recent Paris conference at which 190 countries adopted the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and 186 countries individually committed to reduce their emissions, has changed the world’s attitude towards efficiency. People used to be reluctant to pay for efficiency—they talked the talk but often did not walk the walk—but we expect that is changing.

The fastest way to reduce emissions is to increase the efficiency of the motors that drive the industrial world; the current stock of motors in the 10 to 100 HP size range (about 90 million units) have an average efficiency of 84% and so there is a lot of benefit to these 186 countries for mandating the use of high efficiency (95%) motors. Based on the International Energy Agency’s study several years ago, we projected worldwide sales of 9 million motors/year in our output range—that estimate has surely risen since the adoption of the SDGs and the commitment of 190 governments to reduce emissions. The biggest improvement in efficiency is available in the smaller 10 to 25 HP motors.

Our motor fits this bill as it is over 95% efficient in the 10 to 25 HP range. Beyond efficiency, it is much more power dense (power/weight) than conventional induction motors, bringing additional advantages. This combination indicates that our motor is potentially “disruptive"—it could change everything... it is has such advantages over conventional motors.