Balqon Corporation CEO Interview: Balwinder Samra

• On 11:55 am EDT, Tuesday September 22, 2009

67 WALL STREET, New York - September 22, 2009 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Alternative Energy/Clean Energy/Power Generation/Utilities Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This 83 page feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Long Term Perspective on Alternative Energy Industry -- Leading Indicators for Alternative Energy Components Companies -- Mergers and Acquisitions in the Alternative Energy Industry -- Break Even Business Fundamentals for Carbon Free Energy Providers -- Development of Carbon Free Energy Production Infrastructure -- NAT GAS Act -- New Players in the Alternative Energy Industry -- Solar Power Cell Manufacturers Market Strategy -- Demand Response for Raw Materials for Solar Cell Production -- Alternative Energy Investment Opportunities -- Multiple Stock Winners in Carbon Free Production Industry -- Government Funding of Alternative Energy Power Providers -- Chinese Solar Energy Companies -- Alternative Energy Hedge Fund Investors -- Commodity Cycles -- Determinants of Market Valuations in the Alternative Energy Production Industry -- Carbon Emissions Statistics -- Energy Efficiency Statistics -- Innovations in Solar and Wind Power Generation -- Business Economics for Methane Based Power Generation -- Electric Vehicles Projections and Statistics-- Cap and Trade Projections and Statistics -- Development of Battery Technology -- Regulatory Environment Developments for Solar, Wind, and Alternative Energy -- Hybrid Vehicles Development and Sales Projections

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In the following brief excerpt from the 83 page report, Balwinder Samra, Founder of Balqon Corporation, discusses the company and the outlook for the sector and for investors.

TWST: Would you begin with a brief historical sketch of Balqon and a current picture of the company?

Mr. Samra: The company was founded in 2005 mainly to develop high-efficiency drive systems for heavy-duty trucks, specifically Class 8 and Class 7 trucks. During 2005 and 2006, we worked on finishing up the initial prototypes, and in 2007 Port of Los Angeles asked if we could deliver a complete zero-emission electric container mover rather than just the drive system. In other words, Port of Los Angeles wanted us to deliver a complete truck. So we switched from being a component manufacturer to a vehicle manufacturer. Also at this point, we decided to purchase chassis from existing OEMs of their fossil fuel-powered chassis, minus the engine gas tanks and other components associated with engine technology. The thinking was that we would get these gliders and put in electric drive systems, converting them essentially to electric vehicles and shipping them under our brand name, and through our distribution network. In 2007 we received a grant for about $500,000 from Port of Los Angeles and Air Quality Management District to build the first zero-emission, Class 8, heavy-duty electric truck. We got the contract in May 2007 and finished the first vehicle in January 2008, and started testing that month. The results were a lot better than we had anticipated - there was a lot more pulling power, the speeds were higher and the range exceeded the original specs of the grant. Port of L.A. got pretty excited about what they were seeing, as they finally saw a zero-emission solution to the movement of containers. In June 2008, they gave us an additional order for about 25 more zero-emission electric trucks, and that's when the company switched from R&D to operations mode, and moved out of our R&D facility into a large manufacturing facility in Harbor City. We needed capital to fulfill these orders and continue to grow the company, and so we went public through a reverse merger in October 2008, started operations at our Harbor City facility and shipped production products in late February 2009. So far in 2009, we have had shipments of $2.2 million and still have a backlog of about $3.7 million of Class 8 tractors and trucks. Meanwhile in June, we implemented lithium batteries into our trucks, increasing the range of the vehicle from 40 miles to 150 miles on a single charge. I think this was a game-changer for the company because since then the market has expanded significantly, as we not only worry about short haul, we are looking at medium-haul applications. So as a company, we're starting to move into lithium battery incorporation into our drive systems. Meanwhile, we also did an exclusive arrangement with a new chassis supplier, Autocar, which would allow us to get into on-road applications. They are largely a manufacturer of waste management vehicles, refuelers for airports, catering trucks, severe duty-type vehicles. But together we are now able to have chassis that are on-road-worthy, and we can start to enter intercity applications, airport applications as well as start to address the short-haul drayage applications at the port worldwide. So I think that's the current stage of the company.

TWST: What is the current state of the material-handling transportation industry, and what's the outlook?

Mr. Samra: Material handling, I think, can be defined as it relates to industrial applications, which would entail full-fledged airport tractors, our on-road version of the vehicle applications, which would be the marine terminal and large warehouses. Since 1988 material handling has been going through a transition to convert it into electric, that's when the first electric narrow-aisle forklift came, in and the transition has continued. It appears that development stopped at the 5- to 7-ton capacity forklift. Technology had reached a point where beyond this, there is primarily either LP- or diesel-powered forklifts. Our technology allows that industry to continue its transition beyond the 10-, 15-, 20-ton mark, converting those material handling applications to all-electric. And most of these are used in industrial plants, steel mills, lumber yards, even at port in the form of reach stackers and gantry cranes. So we feel the technology has evolved enough that we could start to handle the transition industry, from 7 tons, where it stopped, up to 20 tons. And we are starting to address those markets. As far as the vehicle side is concerned, which was the yard hostler applications at the marine terminal, these are the vehicles that essentially moved the container from a ship when it's been unloaded, and parks it at a certain location. These are all off-road applications. That industry has primarily used diesel products, and in 2002 we began to notice a transition where the industry started to look at LNG products to see if they can reduce pollution, mainly focusing on particulate matter coming out of the diesel stacks. While the industry was still testing and evaluating the product, and engine developers were trying to develop those technologies, Balqon entered the market with a pure zero-emission container mover in 2007. This created a pause in the industry, where it started to see if it was necessary to take this interim step of going from diesel to LNG and then to electric. Testing of our products and performance have demonstrated that there is no need to take that transitional step into liquid natural gas vehicles in certain applications. With the implementation of lithium batteries, it has certainly increased the range of the vehicles, where you could now operate a vehicle in two or three shift operations. This was not the case six months ago, when we were demonstrating lead acid-powered products, which could only be used for one shift. So I think it's encouraging news for the industry, as the development in battery technology further showed that the interim step from one fossil fuel to another is not necessary. That's the state of both those markets.

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