Het Californische ZAP zoekt zijn heil bij de Chinese autofabrikant Jonway voor de productie van elektrische auto's. De twee firma's hebben daarvoor een overeenkomst gesloten.

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Een van die auto's wordt een elektrische Jonway A380, een kloon van een ouder model Toyota RAV4. In het persbericht rept ZAP van een overeenkomst die moet leiden tot aanzienlijk meer verkoop in China. De Chinese regering verstrekt subsidies aan fabrikanten die elektrische auto's bouwen, aangezien het land zichzelf tot doel heeft gesteld om jaarlijks 500.000 elektrische of hybride voertuigen te produceren.

ZAP is een omstreden bedrijf waarvan de handel en wandel in het online magazine Wired uitgebreid aan bod is gekomen. De productie van zijn driewielige Xebra is gestopt, diverse aangekondigde auto's zijn uitgesteld of geannuleerd.

ZAP, Jonway Partner to Target China Electric SUV Market

Companies Agree to Develop, Manufacture and Market Electric Compact SUVs and Other Vehicles in China for Worldwide Distribution

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.