>
> Well, Chevron-Texaco does own the patent on the NiMH battery but won't
> license it for use in batteries large enough for use in an electric car.
>  Toyota had a nice electric RAV4 until the patent was enforced.
>

It makes a good conspiracy theory, but it's not quite true. True, Cobasys
won't license the patent, but that's because they want people to buy THEIR
batteries. The new Saturn hybrid uses Cobasys NiMH batteries <
http://tinyurl.com/2e8852>. Toyota could do the same. What Toyota tried to
do was first ignore the patent, then try to buy a license to it when their
own NiMH batteries were ruled infringing. Cobasys is a battery manufacturer
though, so expecting them to license their patents out to competitors is
silly.

--
John Bange
'90 Vanagon - "Geldsauger"