ZENN gears up for jump to highway speed cars
This is basically an FYI. Low-speed electric car maker ZENN Motor Co. released its first-quarter results last week and provided an update on plans to introduce a highway-speed vehicle based on EEStor’s energy storage system. Here’s what the company said:
In anticipation of the EEStor technology being successfully commercialized, the Company is readying its plans to incorporate the technology in its ZENN product offerings. In addition, the Company has begun investigation of options for developing its future generation of longer-range, highway-capable vehicles. Two of the more promising opportunities being examined are retrofit kits and a small to mid-size automobile (curb weight less than 1400 Kg/3087 lbs) with highway capable speeds and range. The retrofit kits would be designed for mass conversion of specific existing automobiles from internal combustion to an electric drive train. On the new car front, while the final specifications have yet to be confirmed, the Company is exploring the development of small and mid-size cars that have a top speed of 65 to 75 MPH (105 to 120 KPH) and a single-charge range of 200 to 400 miles (325 to 650 Km). Subject to satisfying local homologation requirements, these new vehicles would be distributed to major markets globally. The Company estimates that global annual sales units for this size of new car to be in excess of 30 million. Third party discussions have been initiated to assess possible manufacturing and distribution scenarios.
So, seems ZENN is quite confident it’ll get delivery of the EEStor units, though it doesn’t say when. I’m curious to know where it plans to set up manufacturing. Given the difficulties it has had trying to get its low-speed vehicles approved for use in Canada, it would be sweet revenge of it decided to locate manufacturing of its higher-speed EV outside of Canada.
Tyler Hamilton is editor-in-chief of Corporate Knights magazine and a business columnist for the Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper. In addition to this Clean Break blog, Tyler writes a weekly column of the same name that discusses trends, happenings and innovators in the clean technology and green energy market. This blog is a personal project started in April 2005. It is not an official blog of the newspaper.
February 22nd, 2008 at 10:08 am
My fingers are crossed for Zenn to stay in Canada. If such an opportunity were to leave this country, I would lose my hope in any fledgling Canadian industry. To think that our slowing manufacturing industry can not wake up to this innovation is proof that they should just fossilize and let another species take over. We cannot stay a Banana Republic forever, we need to grow up and move away from a natural resource based economy.
Darklamp
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:00 am
The market reaction is interesting. Markets often reveal what people familiar with the situation really think, what they’ve really heard, what they really believe ….
The company’s stock price is not behaving as though there is much belief in this. On the other hand, the stock price is not behaving as though there is much disbelief either.
Everything either is, or is not, about to change. Very interesting.
March 27th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Today, the day before the annual meeting, the stock is down big on very heavy volume. That certainly suggests that the annual meeting will not deliver encouraging news.