LAREMONT, N.H., Dec. 19 � Gen. Wesley K. Clark loves
to talk on the campaign trail about a new electric motor and rechargeable
battery that he says could be used in electric cars and windmills to
reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil. If he is elected president,
General Clark promises, he will put "big bucks" into subsidies for the
development of those and other types of renewable energy.
One thing General Clark does not mention is that he has a financial
interest in the small private company that developed and is marketing the
new motor and battery.
Financial disclosure forms released late last week show that General
Clark owns options to buy a percentage of the company, WaveCrest
Laboratories, based in Dulles, Va. General Clark has worked for
the company as a consultant and served as chairman of its
board.
The disclosure form, which must be filed by all presidential
candidates, says the options are currently worth little or nothing,
accounting for an immeasurably small portion of General Clark's net worth
of approximately $3 million. Called membership options, they are similar
to publicly traded stock options in that they give General Clark the right
to buy a small percentage of the company at a certain price. Because
WaveCrest is a private entity however, the options cannot be traded.
WaveCrest officials and the Clark campaign declined to disclose the
options' terms or expiration date. If the company were to attract new
financing, sell stock to the public or be acquired, the options' value
could increase. At present, the company has no plans to go public.
An aide to General Clark dismissed the suggestion that he could
benefit. "General Clark has made clear that when he becomes president he
will take the appropriate steps to make sure his financial interests
present no potential issues," said Chris Lehane, a strategist for the
campaign, because those holding would be divested or placed in a blind
trust.
Tom McMahon, the director of communications and government affairs at
WaveCrest, said in an interview that the company's initial sales to the
Pentagon, of an electric bicycle that uses the company's motor and battery
technology, occurred after General Clark began working for WaveCrest as a
consultant. But, he said that General Clark did not directly market the
product to military officials but rather helped to guide the company's
overall marketing strategy.
In the last two years General Clark has received more than $195,000 in
consulting and director fees from WaveCrest, and he served as chairman of
its board from April 1 through Oct. 7, when he resigned to focus on his
campaign for the Democratic nomination for president. The company is
seeking additional financing to further develop its motor and battery
systems. Even if General Clark doesn't win the nomination or the
presidency, WaveCrest might benefit from his consistent promotion of its
technology.
WaveCrest describes its "adaptive motor system" as an energy-efficient
motor that does not require gears or transmission but instead relies on
computer algorithms to maximize torque. Its efficiency and the company's
special battery let it run longer on the same charge, said Boris Maslov, a
co-founder of WaveCrest. The company is now working on a system whereby
the motor would draw power from the battery while a driver is accelerating
and then recharge the battery when the driver applies the brakes or
coasts. And Mr. Maslov said wind-powered applications are being studied as
well.
General Clark has discussed the WaveCrest technology several times over
the last month, most recently at a campaign event on Thursday in this town
in western New Hampshire, where he enthused about a future where the use
of electric cars employing the WaveCrest technology could cut oil imports
in half.
At a campaign event on Dec. 9 in New Castle, N.H., when a student asked
about wind and other renewable resources, General Clark responded: "I like
wind-generated power. I was in a company, and we had this really great
electric motor technology." After giving a basic description of the motor,
he added, "If you hook this new kind of motor up the right way to a small,
not big, a very small windmill, you can generate very good
electricity."
On Dec. 8 in Contoocook, N.H., he said: "We are going to put the big
bucks and the incentives into alternative energy. The form of alternative
energy that I think offers the greatest promise for America frankly is
wind-generated energy," and he went on to describe the adaptation of the
WaveCrest motor for wind power.
General Clark again raised about the WaveCrest technology in a meeting
with the editorial board of The New York Times on Dec. 11. "This little
company I was the chairman of came up with two very interesting
technologies that are worth just a minute here," he said. One, an electric
motor, "fits in wheels, and if you have small powerful motors that are
controlled by electronics that fit in wheels you will see the end of the
internal combustion engine. It's just inevitable. And when you do that and
couple it with the battery technology that they've come up with, which is
a sort of instant recharge battery," what will result is widespread
electric transportation.
For all of General Clark's enthusiasm, Mr. Lehane laughed at the
prospect that he would profit from the venture.
"The chances are greater that Wes Clark will get hit by a meteorite
than that he will benefit in any way, shape or form from his minuscule
financial interest in a company that sells electric bikes," he
said.
