The Chinese version of Batteries + Energy Storage Technology (BEST), which currently circulates to 90 countries, will launch this October and will be quickly followed up with a launch of EV (electric vehicle) Land, Sea and Air in November.
Editor and publisher Gerry Woolf (pictured) says: “There has been unprecedented growth in the battery industry in recent years with exponential sales of portable electronics and mobile phones. Combine this with the massive interest in electric and hybrid vehicles and renewable energy and you have three extremely powerful market drivers which have made this business virtually recession proof.”
Woolf added: “Chinese trade magazines have hardly been invented. What passes for them are little better than catalogues and business-to-business communication is something the West can do well in China. Our western advertisers are very excited by the move.”
Woolf launched BEST magazine in 2003. “At that time electric energy storage was hardly discussed - now it’s one of the hottest topics in the USA, Japan and Germany as the means of tying renewables into electricity distribution - not to mention powering cars. Obama’s stimulus package was the icing on the cake and most developed countries, except the UK, have followed suit. Virtually all of BEST magazine’s advertising and subscriptions are from outside the UK.”
BEST magazine bought out its American rival, The Batteryman, in 2006 and now claims to be the global market leading publication. ESPL’s other title, EV Land Sea and Air is also a radical move. “There’s a lot more to electric vehicles than cars - in five years from now only 10% of electric vehicle sales will be cars, the rest will be e- bikes, scooters, buses remote submersibles and many more machines including specialist military vehicles”, added Woolf. These are new opportunities for the battery industry, and for Energy Storage Publishing.
Woolf a former science writer, got involved with the battery industry nearly 15 years ago. “I thought I’d be bored to tears but it’s been a really amazing ride.”
