Der Spiegel revealed this week that ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems is selling military submarines to Singapore.
And it’s wicked cool…
The magazine writes:
“The special fascination of ThyssenKrupp’s new Type 218SG submarine is not immediately apparent. It only becomes clear at the sight of the delicate, detailed engineering at its stern. That’s where the ‘air independent propulsion system’ is installed, connected directly with a gearless Permasyn motor. Built to glide through the sea almost noiselessly, the submarine is quieter and more durable than any other conventional model.
With fuel-cell drive and lithium-ion batteries, such a submarine can stay deployed at sea for more than 80 days and spend four weeks at a time under the surface.
These are ideal capabilities for a war machine built to function in the depths of seemingly endless waters, over routes that can be navigated without interruption for longer than ever before. It is a design suitable for the largest of all oceans: the Pacific.”
These subs are selling for about $2 billion a piece… if you happen to be in the market.
Das Boot
Asia is currently undergoing an underwater arms race. The HQ-182 Hanoi was built by the Russians and just delivered to Vietnam. Indonesia is having 12 new subs (U-209s) built by Daewoo of South Korea. Malaysia has two French submarines. And last year, Myanmar was in talks to buy two Russian Kilo class subs. For the record, China has 68 subs, Japan has 16, and the U.S. has 70.
But it seems the German sub is the best. We all know Germans make good stuff.
What is really important here is not so much the threat of global nuclear war but that the subs use a hybrid fuel cell/lithium-ion battery — and you can profit from it.
Fuel Cell Tipping Point
Get this: Two days ago, Toyota announced it was coming out with a hydrogen fuel cell car in 2015 that would have a range of 310 miles, could seat four, and could fill up in three minutes — thus blowing away any battery-operated car. (Guesstimates on price are between $50k and $100k.)
Investors have been selling fuel cell stocks for ten years now, and many are down more than 95%. But while no one was looking, the technology has reached a tipping point.
The knowhow is there, and the price has fallen though the floor. Fuel cells are now a viable solution for all sorts of things, from submarines to airplanes to standalone power stations.
You may remember that last year, the same thing happened with solar stocks…
JA Solar went from $3 to $12.
Hanwha SolarOne went from $0.95 to $5.50.
Yingli Green went from $1.62 to $8.77.
I don’t care who you are — those are really nice gains. And the same gains available in solar last year will hit fuel cells this year.
Toyota’s senior vice president, Bob Carter, said, “We estimate a 95% cost reduction for the powertrain and fuel tanks of the vehicle we will launch in 2015 when you compare that to what it cost for us to build the original Highlander Fuel Cell in 2002.”
Honda, GM, Kia, and the rest of them will put out their own fuel cell cars. Boeing is running tests to replace its fire-prone batteries with lighter, less-combustible fuel cells.
This may have come as a surprise to the market in general, but I’ve been talking about this for almost a year now.
Just today, I told my readers of Crisis and Opportunity to sell half their position on one fuel cell company that simply launched. It went from $0.12 in March to $4.90 yesterday.
Obviously, with gains like that, you should bank some and buy yourself a new hat… or a car.
Until next time,
Christian DeHaemer
Check us out on YouTube!Christian is the founder of Bull and Bust Report and an editor at Energy and Capital. For more on Christian, see his editor’s page.
