Archive for January 2011
ZAP Completes 51% Acquisition of Jonway Automobile of China, Cathaya Capital Funds a Total of US$36 Million
New U.S.-China Automaker Aims at Emerging Electric Car Market
SANTA ROSA, California (January 25, 2011) – Electric vehicle market pioneer ZAP (OTC BB: ZAAP) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of 51 percent of the capital stock of Zhejiang Jonway Automobile Co. Ltd. of Sanmen, Zhejiang, China. Cathaya Capital LP has funded the aggregate amount of US$36 million.
The ZAP Alias Electric Car
The final payment of US$19 million related to the acquisition was made on January 21, 2011 with the funding from Cathaya Capital. Total cash payment for the acquisition of 51 percent of Jonway Automobile was US$30,030,000.
With ZAP’s electric vehicle (EV) technology expertise and international experience, the combined company intends to build the necessary production platform to address the Chinese EV market. The newly combined company, to be renamed ZAP Jonway, will leverage Jonway Auto’s A380 SUV, as well as its established distribution channels to the Chinese market with over 90 direct dealers. ZAP Jonway will manufacture and sell SUVs powered by ZAP’s electric drive train and expects to benefit from the 60,000 RMB (approximately US$9,000) government incentives granted to electric car buyers.
Jonway Automobile anticipates vehicle sales for its gasoline A380 SUV to increase by 40 percent to over 10,000 vehicles in 2011 compared to 2010. In 2009, its first year of sales, Jonway Automobile experienced sales of 4,000 SUVs, which rose to over 7,000 in 2010, each with a sales price of around US$11,000. ZAP Jonway is currently adding to its manufacturing production lines to deliver the A380 EV SUV by the anticipated date of June 2011 and ZAP’s ALIAS EV roadster by September 2011.
Read More at the ZAP Global Blog: http://zapglobal.wordpress.com
ZAP Alias Electric Car in the X PRIZE / Consumer Reports Skidpad Test
We have hours of footage from the X PRIZE, but this is one of my personal favorites I’ve been saving for a cold winter day. This is the Skidpad test on which Consumer Reports tests all new cars.
According to Wikipedia, a skidpad or skidpan is a large, circular area of flat pavement used for various tests of a car’s handling. The most common skidpad use is testing lateral acceleration, measured in g.
The test is carried out on a circular track with a calculated radius. A car driving on said track is slowly accelerated until the outermost tires on the car begin to slip. Going any faster would cause the car to drive outside the 300 ft radius. At this point, the speed of the car is recorded, and given the centripetal acceleration formula, v²/r, a car’s handling in terms of lateral gs can be derived.
To pass the test, the Alias had to surpass 40 MPH to achieve a lateral acceleration of .7 g without losing control. As you can see, this was a piece of cake for the Alias and X PRIZE posted a result of .85 g, not bad considering Al Unser Jr. was just getting started when they called him in. None of the X PRIZE cars in the Knockout Stage had a problem with this test and it was dropped for the finals.
Thankz to ZAP Alias Team Member Prashanth Radhakrishnan for capturing this raw video, which was posted originally on Facebook in June.
