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ZAP, Jonway Partner to Target China Electric SUV Market

 
8 1,235 views January 21, 2010

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Zap (Zero Air Pollution), an American electric vehicle maker known for their fleet vehicles, small trucks, cars and scooters, and Zhejiang Jonway Automobile Co. Ltd., announced a commercial agreement for the development and production of electric SUV's, cars and other vehicles for domestic and worldwide sales.

Jonway currently manufactures several thousand 3 and 5-door,1.6L to 2.4L, A380 SUV's per month with a capacity to produce 50,000 vehicles per year.  Zap and Jonway collaborated to produce an electric version of the 5-door A380, using Zap's latest AC propulsion and lithium ion battery system technologies to create a high performance midrange vehicle targeting the fleet vehicle market in China.

Zap brings their EV expertise, R&D and worldwide sales channels, while Jonway provides manufacturing capability, a conventional vehicle platform and their own domestic sales channels, to jointly market this all electric SUV in China and around the world.  ZAP will license the technology developed at their Santa Rosa, CA research center to Jonway for this endeavor.

Through this agreement, Zap is hoping to take advantage of China's $8,800 subsidy for vehicles produced and sold in China.  Jonway, of course, leverages Zap's many years of proven EV technology from fleet sales to UPS and others.

[Source: Press Release]





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Comments (8)

  1. By Noel Park Posted: 1/21/2010 3:27pm PST

    Well I might just be a poor old fuddy duddy with a Buy American complex, but this is not going to work for me. Assuming that it happens at all, which I will believe when I see it.
     
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  2. By Jason M. Hendler Posted: 1/21/2010 5:19pm PST

    Noel, I am concerned that BYD hasn't succeeded with EV's in China, so China may not be the right place to start. I believe the US market would go for a 3 door SUV EV, but Zap isn't known for SUV powertrains, just small vehicles with tiny wheels.
    This could be huge for both, but a miss is as good as a mile in the EV marketplace.
     
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  3. By Noel Park Posted: 1/22/2010 12:55pm PST

    Jason - I don't think that the story of BYD and EV's in China has fully played out yet. I heard a really interesting commentary yesterday about the Chinese government's concern about environmental issues. They clearly share many of the concerns we have, from energy security and the economic impact of oil imports to air pollution. I think that they do understand the political downside of being seen as massive polluters, as well as the economic and security realities. Remember their virtual shutdown of commerce in Bejing during the Olympics? We are members of the NRDC, which has a substantial presence in China. They say that, on some levels, the Chinese government is more forthcoming on certain environmental issues than the U.S. government.
    Given that the Chinese government is so much more of a command and control system, it would not surprise me to see them force the acceptance of BYD's intitiatives by whatever means necessary.
    And please do not take me for an apologist for the Chinese government. The idea of BYD establishing a strong presence here, and undercutting what remains of our auto industry, scares me to death.
     
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  4. By Jason M. Hendler Posted: 1/22/2010 2:01pm PST

    Noel, Chinese automakers should scare you. I worked for GM when Japan took marketshare in the '80's, so I know what China's entry will do. Korea has already made significant inroads and India will too. One of these many emerging automakers will succeed overseas, then hit our shores, reducing American market share again.
     
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  5. By Noel Park Posted: 1/22/2010 3:13pm PST

    #5 Jason - I hear you and I agree. If we let it happen we are going to get just exactly what we deserve, IMHO.
     
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  6. By  Greg Johnson Posted: 1/22/2010 5:31pm PST

    Any Zap Press Releases should be treated with the utmost skepticism. See the Wired article "Hype Machine: Searching for ZAP's Fleet of No-Show Green Cars."
     
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  7. By Jason M. Hendler Posted: 1/22/2010 6:56pm PST

    Greg, UPS is supposedly leasing vehicles from Zap, is that not true?
     
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  8. By Alex Posted: 1/27/2010 3:09pm PST

    It was true, they have leased them during the seasonal shipping peaks in November/December for the past three years. 24 or 25 this year, 92 over the past three years. I heard they wanted more but that was all that Zap had in stock.
     
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