Zap,
a small US company specialised in electric vehicles, has signed an
agreement to form a joint venture with Chinese car maker Shandong
Jindalu Vehicle Company.
Zap is best known in the US for its Xebra electric three-wheeler (pictured left), which the Chinese company makes.
While electric cars have long struggled to be taken seriously in the west, Zap claims interest in the Xebra has soared with rising gas prices, particularly from fleet owners.
Its third-quarter results, released today, show unaudited sales of $10m for the first nine months of fiscal year 2006, which is apparently a record in Zap's 12-year history.
Zap's latest announcement about the Chinese JV is frustratingly short on detail and long on promise. In particular, the two companies promise to develop a new generation of "low-cost advanced transportation vehicles" that run efficiently on gas, electricity, ethanol and other non-conventional fuels.
The only concrete detail in the release is that Zap has established an office in Dezhou, China to support the JV. More developments will be announced "shortly". Despite our scepticism and Zap's chequered history, it's difficult to disagree with this comment from Shandong Jindalu's president Lu:
Although many companies talk about doing things for the environment, we are proud to be part of a joint venture in which both parties are dedicated toward bringing vehicles to the market that can bring not only good returns to our shareholders, but the planet as well."
I guess he forgot to check out Zap's share price, which is now less than it was five years ago.
Go here for more on Zap and Chinese-manufactured electric cars on the Green Car Congress website.
