Chery QQ AMT

According to the Press Release, “Better Place took a first step today in China by signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Chery Automobile Co., China’s largest independent auto producer and exporter, to collaborate on electric vehicle technology in the world’s largest auto market. As part of the collaboration agreement, the Chery exhibit at Auto China 2010 features elements of the Better Place EV solution, including EV charge spots and battery-switch technology displayed with a Riich G5 sedan.

“With only 2% of China’s population owning cars and 80% of sales in 2009 to first-time car buyers, China has the opportunity to create and lead an entirely new category around clean transportation,” said Dan Cohen, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for Better Place. “With the scale of Chery’s design and manufacturing capability and an industrial policy that favors EV over ICE, we believe China represents an unprecedented opportunity for Better Place. Our collaboration with Chery is just the beginning for Better Place in China.”

“Chery has been a pioneer in EV technology since 2001,” said Dr. Yuan, Vice President, Chery. “We’ve closely followed Better Place for nearly two years and believe that our collaboration offers both companies the potential to lead the EV market in China and beyond.”

China has set an industrial policy with the objective of becoming the largest EV developer and manufacturer in the world, enabling the country to leapfrog internal combustion engine (ICE) technology and go straight to electric transport. China is the world’s second largest consumer of oil behind the U.S., which historically has led the ICE vehicle market, and ahead of Japan, the leader in hybrid technology. By 2020, China is expected to rely on 65% of foreign oil imports.

HSBC research predicts that China’s share of the global EV market will grow from 2.7% this year to 35% by 2020. During this time period, China will overtake Japan by 2016 and the U.S. by 2019 in dominating the global EV market.

Under the terms of the MOU, Better Place and Chery will jointly develop switchable-battery EV prototypes with the goal of securing regional Chinese government EV pilot projects.

Better Place welcomes all automakers to develop cars that use the company’s network of EV battery switch stations and charge spots.”

Source: Better Place Press Release

Aptera 2e

According to the Remy Press Release, “Today, Remy International, Inc. joined Aptera Motors for a press conference in Carlsbad, California where Remy was announced as the electric motor supplier for the Aptera 2e. Remy will supply HVH250™ electric motors for the new Aptera 2e all-electric vehicle. Remy is already supplying a High Voltage Hairpin (HVH™) electric motor for Aptera’s entry in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, where the 2e has successfully reached fourth phase of competition and will undergo extensive testing and judging over the next several months.

The all-electric, three-wheel Aptera 2e looks like no other vehicle on the market. Aptera’s founders understood aerodynamics and vehicular dynamics enough to know that almost every car on the road today spends more than fifty percent of its energy pushing wind out of the way. In an attempt to correct what they saw as a major design flaw, Aptera looked for alternative solutions in nature which led to a vehicle design that emulates the aerodynamics of a bird in flight.

The Aptera 2e has a unique light-weight design weighing approximately 1,800 pounds. It goes 0-60 mph in ten seconds and has a top speed of 90 mph with a range of nearly 200 miles.

Aptera said they chose the Remy HVH250 electric motor for the superior technology, reliability and speed to market the motor offers. Specifically, the HVH250 motor provides the high power density and torque Aptera was seeking; and the motor is compact and light which helps keep down the overall weight of the vehicle, contributing to the driving range. Additionally, Remy’s patented technology provides cooling efficiency that permits the Aptera 2e to run at higher speeds longer than other motors, an important feature in today’s freeway-heavy transportation system.

Aptera CEO Paul Wilbur said, “Remy’s HVH250 was an ideal choice for our electric motor. It can integrate into our drivetrain quite easily, and the support we have received from Remy’s engineering team has been nothing less than first rate. Not only have we selected a great motor, but we have also tapped in to a highly qualified team of professionals that are actively concerned about our success and future growth. We are excited about this partnership.”

Remy CEO John Weber said, “Remy is proud to supply Aptera our HVH electric motors which enhance the Aptera 2e’s performance. Remy motors are backed by over a billion miles of proven reliability. This partnership is another great example of our HVH standardized platform at work. Remy can easily support Aptera’s growth with existing production capacity of 100,000 motors. The leading edge, proven technology and track record of the Remy HVH electric motor enable companies like Aptera Motors to confidently choose Remy. This choice provides the luxury of reducing the design, R&D and tooling costs often associated with the development of an electric drive system.”"

Source: Remy Press Release

Zapcar - 2008 Xebra

According to the press release, “US electric vehicle pioneer ZAP (OTCBB: ZAAP) and China auto manufacturer Zhejiang Jonway Automobile Co. Ltd. announced a commercial agreement to produce electric sport utility vehicles (SUVs), cars and other electric vehicles in China for domestic and global distribution.

ZAP and Jonway partnered on the production of the 5-door Jonway A380 SUV, integrating the latest AC propulsion and lithium battery system technologies to produce a high performance mid-range electric vehicle (EV) that ZAP intends to offer to the fleet market in China. Jonway currently manufactures several thousand units per month of its A380 compact SUV in 3- and 5-door models and is expanding its product line with new model sedans and other automobiles.

The agreement with Jonway is part of a multi-phase business plan ZAP is implementing to target the China electric vehicle market. ZAP chose the Jonway partnership in part because last year Jonway produced one of the first vehicles made in China to meet international standards of quality, including ISO 9000, China Compulsory Certification (CCC) and most recently passing certification for import to the European Union. The Taizhou-based automaker markets and sells vehicles in China through a network of over 600 auto dealerships. Jonway has the capacity to produce up to 50,000 vehicles per year currently at its facilities in Taizhou with capacity and support from the government to expand as the business scales.

ZAP and Jonway believe the partnership will leverage ZAP’s long-standing history in electric vehicles, experience in systems integration and worldwide sales for a broad range of EVs. Under the exclusive agreement, ZAP and Jonway take the electric drive systems designed by ZAP and integrate them into the reengineered EV SUV that will be produced by Jonway. ZAP will perform research and development of the core technology in Santa Rosa, California and license the technology for this partnership. ZAP and Jonway will jointly market and sell electric vehicles in China, North America and Europe to broaden market reach.

In 2009, China overtook the United States as the world’s largest automobile market with sales increasing 46 percent from 2008 to 13.6 million vehicles in 2009, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

ZAP hopes to leverage a stimulus from the government for plug-in forms of transportation. The Chinese State Council General Office announced that it intends to raise its annual production capacity to 500,000 all-electric cars, hybrids and buses by the end of 2011. To stimulate the growth, China’s Economic Construction Department has put in place a 60,000 RMB, approximately US$8,800, manufacturers subsidy per electric vehicle produced and sold in China. ”

Source: Press Release

According to Reuters, “U.S. electric sports car maker Tesla Motors plans to go public soon, two sources familiar with the matter said, amid growing interest in green technology and battery-powered vehicles.

An IPO filing from the six-year-old start-up, best known for its $109,000 all-electric Roadster, is expected any day, said one of the sources. The person did not give a specific time frame, although IPOs typically take several months.

Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes declined to comment on what he called “rumor or speculation.”

Tesla would mark the first public offering from a U.S. automaker since Henry Ford’s Ford Motor Co debuted its shares in 1956. The IPO represents a landmark in the resurgence of electric car technology that most carmakers had dismissed as impractical until recently.

The company’s chairman Elon Musk said early last year that an IPO was a possibility in either late 2008 or 2009.

But the financial market turmoil following the collapse of Lehman Bros. in the latter half of 2008 virtually shut down the IPO market. The appetite for IPOs has picked up since mid-September this year with a robust pace of new filings.

Tesla’s IPO would follow the successful debut of lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems, whose shares rallied 50 percent on their first day of trading on Sept 25.

Analysts have said that the success of A123, the first green technology IPO this year, would encourage more venture capital-backed green companies to go public.

Tesla will compete with established automakers like Ford, General Motors and Nissan Motor Co, all of which are racing to launch electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles. Tesla, by contrast, is a small player with a high-end market and limited production.

A combination of factors has driven the recent interest in developing electric, or partially electric vehicles, including the Obama administration’s push to have one million rechargeable vehicles on US roads by 2015 and low-cost Department of Energy loans for manufacturers.

VENTURE FUNDS BACK GREEN CARS

The carmaker is developing a second, lower-cost model, an electric sedan known as the Model S, which will have a base price of $49,900.

Tesla said in September it delivered 700 Roadsters since February 2008. The Roadster, which is built on a Lotus frame, can go from zero to sixty miles an hour in less than four seconds, making it faster than a Porsche 911 or a Ferrari Spider.

The electric car start-up was offered $465 million in low-cost loans by the U.S. Department of Energy to help build the new Model S. Tesla said it will build the new car in California.

Tesla’s investors include Google Inc founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Other investors include Daimler AG; Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments, which owns a stake in Daimler; and venture capital funds Valor Equity Partners, Technology Partners, The Westly Group and Compass Venture Partners.

Tesla said it had achieved overall corporate profitability in July with about $1 million of earnings on revenue of $20 million. But like established automakers, survival in the hyper-competitive U.S. automotive market has not been easy for Tesla. The company had to face cost overruns and production delays for the Roadster.”

Source: Reuters

When the words “motorcycle racing” are heard, the image of a sleek, powerful and fuel-hungry superbike comes to mind. The kind that Valentino Rossi likes to ride in the Moto GP, or a hopped up street bike popping a wheelie down a vacant street whilst competing with another. While these images of motorcycle racing may hold true, the sport is slowly beginning to change. Nowhere has this change been felt more then on the track. For once, the race tracks are quiet.

Quiet in a good way, and soon that near-silence will be coming to the United States. A motorcycle race will take place in Infineon Raceway in Sonoma County, and the sounds of the motorcycles will hardly be heard. The first ever no-carbon emission motorcycle race on the continent, and the second ever such race in the world is to take place on May 14-16 of 2010, during the AMA Motorcycle Sonoma Showdown.

TTXGP (Time Trial Extreme Grand Prix) is an entirely new variety of motorcycle racing, with the first of such races having occurred at the Isle of Man TT in 2009. Teams from all over the globe came to race their bikes, based on a specific set of rules and guidelines. All the bikes were to be zero-emissions, and they would rely on electricity for propulsion. In 2010 that racing event is coming to the United States, and will be sure to have motorcycle fans buzzing. It will be that buzz that should take place of the noise that the motorcycles make, since they are incredibly quiet machines due to their reliance on electricity stored in batteries that find a home on the motorcycle. The top speed of these bikes is near to 130 mph, though they cannot yet hold an electrical charge that would allow them to keep that speed for long. Going at top speed, the TTXGP bikes can expend near to 70 kilowatts per hour. This means that despite their innovative technologies, they will be racing for 30 minutes during the day. During those short races however, fans will be able to catch a glimpse into the future of motorcycle racing.

With consumers largely avoiding electric cars due to their shortcomings (range, charging infrastructure) the United States Postal Service is already undertaking the electrification of their current Long Life Vehicle (LLV) model to contribute to the green movement.

AM General and Smith Electric Vehicles (SEV) will be teaming up to complete this project in converting all 178,000 LLVs currently in use. AM General will be responsible for designing and constructing the chassis, or the “engine” of a traditional car, while SEV will build the electric powertrain.

In August, SEV US Corp, a subset of Tansfield Group PLC, won a $10 million grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) in order to build a small fleet of electric trucks for demonstration. In order to fulfill its responsibilities to both the DOE and USPS SEV US Corp has mutually agreed with Ford to terminate their current contract.

In a statement to the public Darren Kell, CEO of Tansfield, stated, The goal is to deliver an electric vehicle that is perfect for the United States Postal Service; a vehicle that is energy efficient, cost-effective, reduces US reliance on oil and lowers greenhouse gas emissions.”

So whether or not an electric vehicle is a part of your future financial plans, plan on having them pay you a visit in the future. Currently there are is no target date for the full electrification of the LLV fleet, but rest assured that your mail will be delivered to you greener than ever.