Doug Korthof - R.I.P.

As a very happy owner of a RAV4-EV, I owe Doug my thanks and appreciation.

Doug was loved by many. He's left a legacy of standing up for what is right, and being passionate about a cause.
He has inspired many through his actions and his eloquent prose.

One of many images I have of Doug, doing what he loved. For those who may not recognize it; this was at the GM vigil, Burbank CA 2005.




Rest in peace friend.

Regards, Jeff

A tremendous loss. I note that Doug was posting truths under his full name on John Peterson's Seeking Alpha rants as recently as last month.

Thanks for all your hard work Doug. We'll miss you. Hope you can see we're still trying to change things for the better from up there.

Here’s a newspaper article about Doug: - News - The Orange County Register .

I’m a big fan of Doug’s efforts. He shot several EV-related videos himself, including ones about GM buying a controlling interest in Ovonics, which developed key patents for NIMH batteries, and then selling it to Texaco which was acquired by Chevron. The technology was perfected by Panasonic, which has produced millions of those very safe and long-lived batteries for Priuses and other hybrids (enabled by a multimillion dollar settlement), but which has been prevented by Chevron from making the batteries for pure EVs.

I’ve heard that the NiMH patents expire around 2015, by when the Lithium ion battery cost will have come down.

This http://www.youtube.com/pluginamerica#p/f/36/pDRBRuvct54 used to be a link to one of his videos about the superb Panasonic EV-95 battery, used by the original RAV-4 EV and the Ford Ranger. Lithium ion batteries are much more expensive, and anyone who doesn’t know that cost has been a dominating factor in the mass market EV world hasn’t been paying attention.

The video Future Crush, FutureCrusH , features Doug (and other EV pioneers) in multiple appearances. He’s the guy with the red VW EV conversion.

Finally, in case anyone missed it, here’s an article about Doug’s beloved EV-1: Living in the Past, Getting Beat by the Future! (Dec. 13th, 2000) | Waylands Words .

Thanks, Bud.

He was an outspoken voice that many of us heard and found inspiring.

Thanks, TEG.

Just a couple of Wiki articles with more information about the NiMH battery patent issue that Doug was so concerned about.

Patent encumbrance of large automotive NiMH batteries - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Toyota RAV4 EV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An excerpt from the latter:

“Whether or not Toyota wanted to continue production, it was unlikely to be able to do so because the EV-95 battery was no longer available. Chevron had inherited control of the worldwide patent rights for the NiMH EV-95 battery when it merged with Texaco, which had purchased them from General Motors. Chevron's unit won aUS$30,000,000 settlement from Toyota and Panasonic, and the production line for the large NiMH batteries was closed down and dismantled. This case was settled in the ICC International Court of Arbitration, and not publicised due to a gag order placed on all parties involved.[11][12] Only smaller NiMH batteries, incapable of powering an electric vehicle or plugging in, are currently allowed by Chevron-Texaco.[13]

In July 2009, Cobasys NiMH division (Chevron-Texaco), was sold to a Bosch and Sanyo consortium, but still retained the patent rights and collect royalties on the batteries.”

Heard last night that there will some charge points built in memory of Doug.

BASF acquires leading maker of NiMH batteries | Business | DW.DE | 14.02.2012

Two Roadsters, wrong batteries.

From three posts above:

Toyota RAV4 EV - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“In July 2009, Cobasys NiMH division (Chevron-Texaco), was sold to a Bosch and Sanyo consortium, but still retained the patent rights and collect royalties on the batteries.”

It would be fun to know if the all-important patent rights and royalty collections were again retained by Chevron in the sale to BASF.