Torotrak Share Discussion Threads

[lefrene] 28/4/2016 17:37

You could be right supernumerary, Ford don't seem to have done TRK any favours, other than allowing previous managements to drop their name in order to bolster their pay!

Perhaps others are watching though, and with the biggest elephant ever now exposed over cheating on fuel consumption and CO2, there must be any number of minds concentrated on looking at solutions. Smaller engines and forced air is the obvious way to go, but with cost, and was it 'invented here', being hurdles.

As always, good news desperately short here.

[bodgit] 28/4/2016 08:37

If anyone wants to see evidence of how a well led and managed company with a strong market awareness, product development and actual delivery can enjoy substantial share growth, have a look at ACSO over many years. Our former Chairman John Weston is their Chairman. I did have a modest holding in ACSO which I sold out of earlier this year. Oh what joy IF Torotrak's share price were to perform even half as well as ACSO. Good luck all.

[supernumerary] 27/4/2016 12:36

lefrene - do not count on V-charge. I believe Ford are just using it to benchmark their own solutions, and it has no chance of widespread adoption, for reasons already given.

[bodgit] 27/4/2016 12:35

lefrene, FWIW, I have not written off M KERS as that still imho has good potential - whether TRK can deliver it is quite another matter and supporting evidence for that to date is rather weak, to be polite. Good luck all.

[supernumerary] 27/4/2016 12:34

Ok, I understand. A pity though - I've seen it happen so many times over the lifetime of the company.

Regarding trk, it's just loss aversion - nobody likes to crystallise a loss, and thus admit that they've got it wrong. There hasn't been a solid investment case here for years - not helped by inept and untrustworthy management - but the inability of many to act on the bleak judgement that they must have made still surprises me.

I read somewhere one of the investment gurus said his definition of a good trader was someone who knew when to take a loss, and I am ever more convinced it's true - buying is easy, selling is often so hard to do.

[lefrene] 27/4/2016 12:17

I agree Bodgit, the man was a greedy blatant liar and should never have got into the position he did. (A bit like Blair and Brown) The last gasp here is V charge, so perhaps if that doesn't come good by autumn it will be game over?

[bodgit] 27/4/2016 11:45

supernumerary, I did sell the other half as well and reinvested in secure investments i.e. NOT shares and certainly not TRK which is absolutely my worst financial investment, ever. So much promise, so little delivery. To think, JD
seemingly does not have to account for his bs statements upon which I based my decision to buy back all those TRK shares I had previously sold, and more .Naive investor then eh though looking for the positives, I now better understand addiction and loss! Hey ho and good luck all.

[supernumerary] 27/4/2016 11:24

OT

Bodgit - just wanted to say thank you ;¬)

From the ACSO thread - 'these are sure to go up now as I sold down half my modest holding last Monday...... Good luck all.'

Did you keep the other half?

[supernumerary] 26/4/2016 13:01

Somebody still thinks there's a market there:

At the Commercial Vehicle Show in Birmingham, UK, French transportation technology developer Adgero will unveil a curtainsider semi-trailer fitted with a regenerative braking system that utilizes ultracapacitors to provide a boost of acceleration. The kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) is designed to provide a 25 percent cut in fuel usage and carbon emissions.

Adgero describes its UltraBoost ST system as the world's first operational energy-saving, hybrid electric system for road transport. It works in a way similar to the kinetic recovery systems used in automotive racing, including GT and Formula One, with an axle-mounted unit underneath the cargo trailer converting slowing and braking energy into electricity that is stored in a bank of graphene-based ultracapacitors. When required, this energy is used to power the electrically-driven axle for a boost of acceleration, helping take some load off the engine of the truck pulling it.

An intelligent management system controls how the energy is recovered, stored, and re-used, with the system making use of a lightweight YASA motor to capture the kinetic energy usually lost as heat when braking. The system has been installed by SDC Trailers on a 13.6-meter (44.6-ft) curtainsider trailer that carries the livery of UK-based transportation company Eddie Stobart, which will be conducting road testing of the Adgero system.

Adgero used ultracapacitors due to the short amount of time in which the power is generated, requiring faster storage options. Unlike the regenerative system in a hybrid car, which is generally inefficient in terms of the amount of potential energy versus the actual capability of the system, a KERS with ultracapacitors can store much more of the braking energy as power and return it much faster than most battery storage options.

In racing, KERS using flywheels have also shown promise, but those add a complex semi-mechanical system whereas ultracapacitors do not. Adgero has signed a deal with Skeleton Technologies for the ultracapacitors, which are SkelMod 50F 160V units. The test trailer houses five of those ultracapacitors.

The trailer kitted out with the UltraBoost St system will be on display at the Commercial Vehicle Show from April 26 to 28.

[jpjp100] 25/4/2016 09:02

One can allow a new CEO a mistake - AR's was to back bus KERS

His other two bets are now critical to the survival of the company

Unless one of them makes it into volume production, I can't see anywhere else to go

The throwaway paragraph at the end relating to IVT essentially signals the end of that technology ever becoming mainstream imo

I share AR's optimism that V charge can come good, but only time will tell

[jsbach123] 22/4/2016 16:33

Some shares are dogs.

[thanksamillion] 22/4/2016 11:31

The "Trading Statement" wasn't what we all wanted, and when I read the Title "Trading Statement" it was immediatley evident to me that this was not going to be great news - heart sinks!.

However my recollection was that even if the Bus kers went ahead we could only expect 50 to be made in the next 12 months under a ramping up excercise - not a lot of profit there then. So a scaling down here which may actually help cash flow a little may not be too bad. Lets face it the bus industry is a pretty cheapskate place, it has to be to survive. On all other fronts it seems TRK is progressing as expected.

JCB and now possibly Ford could quite easily come good in the next 3-6 months, these are the ones to watch.

[lefrene] 22/4/2016 11:19

willoicc, the bus buyers will be looking at the time it takes to recover the cost of the kers. Cheaper fuel means that it takes much longer to recover the outlay, and evidently not worth the candle. Without tough clean-air regs to force change it seems unlikely that bus operators will bother with kers unless fuel rises back to previous levels. At least the knowledge gained from the exercise won't be lost and can be applied elsewhere.

Reading the report again it seems that there is genuine interest from the off-highway sector, and enough for at least one OEM to fund research into kers for their kit. So TRK is getting paid to tailor a kers to a potential customers kit.

Ford with a Tier 1 are at least maintaining an interest in the tech for V charge and only a few more months there to see if we have a product that's wanted. So nothing yet to get excited about, but the fat lady hasn't been dragged on to the stage just yet.

[alchemy] 22/4/2016 09:38

Jettisoning the coalition?...the Minister who backed Catapult...Lib-Dem guy. Vince Cable. And austerity rules. Keep breathing the nox.

[willoicc] 21/4/2016 08:21

I understood reducing fuel usage, particularly diesel, was about reducing pollution as well as cost.

Seems the bus operators have decided cost is all that matters after all!

[amt] 21/4/2016 08:20

Health teeth is there any business here now other than waffle. Market value of 29m looks ridiculously high now.

[alchemy] 21/4/2016 08:18

And thanks to the Government too.

[angus17] 21/4/2016 08:13

Its a non-trading update. whippeee

[angus17] 21/4/2016 08:13

Its a non-trading update. whippeee

[dynamohum] 21/4/2016 08:12

Yep, the job creation scheme continues . . . .

[bodgit] 21/4/2016 08:09

Oh dear, looks like AR has gone the same way as JD with creating expectations that have not been delivered. That statement likely will do wonders for the share price Business as usual then.... Good luck all.

[lefrene] 14/4/2016 13:06

With it's long history of never delivering anything except bullsh!t, it certainly ought to be on AiM with the rest of the imposters there.