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ADR 0002: Standards Posture — Adopt Terminology, Distrust Incumbent Technology and Cost Baselines

  • Status: Accepted
  • Date: 2026-09-17
  • Deciders: Huashan Wang
  • Related: ADR 0001 (decision 2, terminology alignment), docs/reference/external-references.md, docs/reference/emob-modeling-standards.md

Context

Phase 1 research identified 5 core industry sources. Subsequent review (2026-09-17) established a deviation register: OVES has deeper first-hand knowledge than published financial analyses in battery chemistry and lifecycle behavior, China production costs, and battery second-use economics (the "eMe" strategy — Electric Mobility + Mobile Electric — making residual value a structural second-use function rather than a terminal constant).

Published e-mobility financial models largely codify the economics of early entrants and outside-in financial analysts. Accepting their technology and cost assumptions would import their cost disadvantages into our models.

Decision

  1. Terminology: adopt. Industry terms are used exactly as defined in the controlled vocabulary, to minimize misunderstanding with counterparties, investors, and partners. Terminology is a communication layer, not an endorsement of incumbent economics.
  2. Technology and cost basis: distrust by default. Parameter values for battery performance, degradation, cost of production, and second-use value from published financial studies are treated as low-confidence priors and incumbent benchmarks — useful for contrast, not as our operating assumptions. Our own chemistry, manufacturing, and lifecycle knowledge overrides them wherever documented.
  3. Disruption stance. Models exist to express our structural advantages (eMe second-use cascades, China production economics, battery lifecycle edge), not to conform to or convince popular beliefs. Where our assumptions differ from incumbents, both values are shown in sensitivity analysis; ours is the base case when evidence supports it, the incumbent value the contrast case.
  4. Deviation register. Every departure from an adopted standard is a first-class, documented parameter with rationale. No silent overrides.

Consequences

  • Positive: models reflect our real economics; deviations are auditable; comparisons against industry baselines remain possible (that is how the disruption is demonstrated).
  • Neutral: ICCT/WRI/World Bank remain adopted for methodology and framework structure only.
  • Risk: self-favorable assumptions must still be evidence-backed; the "verify" markers and sensitivity dual-reporting guard against wishful baselines.