ZENN has just put out a press release to discuss the outcome of a strategic review. Company chair Rick McGraw has decided to resign because of the “greater time commitment” being required of his role. CEO Brian Cott is also stepping down, which I was fully expecting. The company says that beyond these management changes it will continue to simplify the structure of the company with a eye to increasing its working relationship with EEStor. “As part of the strategic review, the Board spent considerable time in meetings and discussions with EEStor to determine the best path for the Company going forward. A strong relationship with EEStor is the Company’s priority. The pace of development and achievement of key milestones as well as disclosure relating to these events are all under the control of EEStor. The Company maintains a regular dialogue with EEStor and intends to increase its interaction with EEStor and, where appropriate, collaborate with and assist EEStor,” according to the release.

All of this is no surprise. ZENN is trying the best it can to conserve cash until EEStor delivers on what it has promised. There are no shocking departures here. All restructuring is orderly, and that is a good sign. And while we’re all impatient to see whether EEStor can deliver, I guess the good news is that the ZENN/EEStor relationship remains strong and the two companies are planning to work more closely together. Being a media guy, however, I’m still uber curious about the role that Allan Greg is playing here on EEStor’s board.

Many things reflect the credibility of a company, and among them is the composition of its board of directors. So I find it interesting that ZENN today announced that John Robert Wallace, former CEO of power-electronics firm Xantrex, has been appointed a director. Wallace is plugged into all sectors that are important to ZENN. He is currently chairman of Enova Systems, the California maker of electric and hybrid-electric drive trains. He is also a former chairman of the World Electric Vehicle Association and the United States Advanced Battery Consortium. Earlier in his career he spent 20 years at Ford Motor Co., where he held the title of director of sustainable technologies. He was also once the executive director and chairman at TH!NK Nordic.

Wallace, like any seasoned exec, wouldn’t just join any board. Obviously he’s done his research and felt comfortable associating with ZENN. For this reason, I view this appointment as quite positive. After all, if EEStor wasn’t going to deliver would Wallace waste him time?

Still waiting, however…

Since it’s been all-too-quiet on the EEStor front, I figured I’d at least draw attention to the company’s latest patent approval — this one titled “Systems and Methods for Utility Grid Power Averaging, Long Term Uninterruptible Power Supply…”

A link to the patent, which was just approved a few days ago by the U.S. patent office, can be found here at the TheEEStory.com. EEStor and ZENN appear to be in complete lock down — no information is flowing from either. I’ve being hearing chatter in the investment community that EEStor has run into some technical (not financial) trouble, but then again, I’ve been hearing this kind of chatter for the past few years since I wrote my first feature on the company in the Toronto Star. I tried to arrange a visit to EEStor’s headquarters in Cedar Park, Texas, for some time this summer. I wanted to gather some information for a book I’m working on that will be released next fall, but Weir — despite my offer to sign a non-disclosure — wouldn’t allow it. He wished me luck and said he doesn’t want or need the attention. (The book, by the way, isn’t just about EEStor, but EEStor will represent a chapter in it. The book will be about barriers to energy innovation… stay tuned).

Fair enough.

The explanation in the patent of how an EESU could benefit the grid is pretty straight forward, so this is really no surprise. But it’s nice to see the company beginning to accumulate a sizable stockpile of patents to protect its IP. Despite the silence out of Cedar Park (and Toronto), I do find it interesting that there are some other ventures hot on EEStor’s heels, just as Weir was expecting. On April 29, for example, the U.S. Department of Energy announced funding as part of its ARPA-E program. One recipient of funding was venture spun out of Penn State University called Recapping Inc., which received $1 million. (more…)

Now, executives at companies come and go, but this release just out today from ZENN made me wonder whether the CFO’s departure is the first trickle of a coming exodus. Does it signal potentially insurmountable problems at EEStor? Or, is this just a way for ZENN to conserve its cash? Or, is this really just about an executive who has decided to move on? But why, then, move on when there’s so much good to come?

The drama thickens… (Can you hear the melodramatic music in the background?)

May the 4th be with you.

I’ve had a few e-mails from readers wondering what the heck is going on at ZENN Motor Co., which apparently didn’t — contrary to its own expectations — receive its first commercial EESU demonstration unit from EEStor before the end of 2009.  The company has yet to put out a press release on this (as a publicly traded company, some say it should), so here’s the response I got directly from the company’s media-relations department:

The last remaining contractual milestone between ZMC and EEStor is the third party verification of delivery of a full production quality EESU that meets certain specifications outlined in the Technology Agreement between the companies. Achievement of this milestone will be announced by ZENN Motor Company via news release to all stakeholders.

Any interim sharing of information or technology between ZMC and EEStor is confidential in nature and will not be publicly disclosed. Any announcements related to EEStor’s technology that fall outside of the contractual milestone described above are strictly within EEStor’s purview to release to the public. ZMC will only comment on EEStor’s progress once the information is made available in the public domain by EEStor.

ZMC remains focused on the development of its ZENNergy drivetrain solutions in anticipation of the successful commercialization of EEStor’s technology. ZMC continues to work with EEStor on a regular basis.

So, that’s where things stand… As Chaucer wrote more than 600 years ago, “Patience is a high virtue.” Or not. I doubt you’ll hear ZENN making any more predictions of when it will receive its first EESU. Still, given the expectations it has built up over the last two years and given that ZENN’s future rests almost entirely on the success of EEStor, the company should probably be more communicative with shareholders. At the same, shareholders need to realize that with those updates ZENN isn’t making hard promises, but merely shedding light on a schedule that — as we’ve certainly learned — is difficult to nail down.

UPDATE: StephenB makes a good point in COMMENTS by parsing ZENN’s statement. It may have received an EESU, but hasn’t announced anything yet until “third party verification of delivery of a full production quality EESU that meets certain specifications.” So, technically, ZENN may — or may not — be on track. We just don’t know.