Part 2: Interview with Carl Watkins, LightEVs

Carl Watkins is a very calm man. There's no tension in his voice as he responds to questions I throw at him over the course of three or four phone interviews. He's definitely not in a rush to do anything very quickly when it comes to EEStor. You almost get the feeling that Watkins is already enjoying a sort of retirement from conflict now that he and his team own the exclusive rights to EEStor technology for all three wheeled vehicles and a portion of the two wheeled vehicle market. Where does that peace of mind come from?

First, Watkins and team are very comfortable with the progress EEStor is making towards ramping up production in 2009. What's left to do is described by Watkins as having been done elsewhere before and well understood. Just a matter of execution. Secondly, Watkins is basing his marketing efforts on the un-hyped logic that flows from simple demonstrations of technology that he will allow his prospects to experience prior to signing a deal with LightEVs.

Do you have anything to show them now? "No."

Then how are you going about things prior to being able to do that?

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The EEStor LightEVs Deal: An Interview with Carl Watkins

Halfway through my hour long Sept 29, 2008 interview of Carl Watkins, President of LightEVs, a phone he's set up to screen calls rings in the background. I joke that it's Dick Weir calling to get Watkins to stop talking to me. Watkins finds that amusing and wonders aloud if some of what he's already shared with me is permissible under his NDA with EEStor. I tell him not to worry about that just to keep talking. His laughter now is interrupted by the voice message being recorded in the background. I can hear it because its coming across a speakerphone and because Watkins pauses to listen himself. It's John Stephens calling to let Carl know that he's just had a serious offer from someone who wants to invest in their company.

I say to him, "that was quick." Watkins says yes but he's not interested in outside investment. Their plan is to fund this to completion with their existing group. So, how much does an EEStor license for ebikes cost anyway? Watkins laughs at the forward question. He pauses and says, "I can't discuss that, " so I start to ask another question but he interrupts and says, "It was substantial. I will say that. It was a substantial amount but I'm not going to say how much it is." He did confirm that it consisted of at least 2 parts: an up front fee and a payment upon delivery of production line prototype, similar to Zenn Motor Company.

What made him comfortable signing with EEStor? Watkins reveals that it was a 4 year conversation initiated by Dick Weir:

"Basically, his philosophy is he wants to keep control of the company. So if he can raise money from people like me or Zenn, he doesn't have to sell equity. So his method and objective of financing the company was to approach various people to see if anyone was interested in a technology agreement which is essentially the ownership of the technology in a certain segment of the market. "

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LightEVS Pitches EEStor at Interbike 2008

Note: I'm going to postpone the posting of the interview with Carl Watkins of LightEVS for the time being. Instead, I'm going to put in front of it some very interesting information I've learned from speaking with some of the entities who were approached by LIghtEVS at Interbike regarding the EEStor technology that was just announced.

First, I have been in contact with some of the exhibitors at Interbike 2008 who have shared with me their experience of talking with Carl Watkins and John Stephens at the show. These sources have asked to remain anonymous so that their disclosures do not impact their ability to possibly utilize the EEStor technology in their ebikes. They have agreed to stay in contact with me as they go through their discussions with LightEVS although they recognize that at some point NDA's will shut off their ability to share information.

I am told that Mr. Watkins and Mr. Stephens approached many exhibitors at Interbike to discuss their license. The uniform first impression of those I've spoken to is that their pitch set off many scammer alarm bells for those who heard it. The pitch included many hitherto unseen capabilities in the ebike world:

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