Chery

April 9, 2009

Nissan Reportedly Will Create Electric-Vehicle Program in Large Chinese City

Add Nissan to the list of automakers (including Chongqing Changan Auto, BYD, Brilliance, Chery, Dongfeng and SAIC) that are intent upon plugging into the rough-and-tumble Chinese market for hybrid-electric and battery-electric cars.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Nissan is negotiating with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to create a pilot electric-vehicle program in Wuhan, a city in central China with nine million residents.

The deal is unusual, the Journal reports, because Beijing typically doesn't forge such partnerships with foreign companies. The newspaper reported that the deal, which calls for Nissan to contribute cars and help create a recharging network, could be completed as soon as Friday.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Greg Johnson April 9, 2009, 11:49 AM
Categories:: Alternative Fuels, BYD, Chery, China, China, Dongfeng, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Hydrogen, Natural Gas, Nissan, Plug-ins and Electric
Technorati Tags:: Chinese Hybrids

February 23, 2009

China's Chery Unveils Electric Vehicle; S18 Minicar Will Sell for Less Than $15,000

Chery Automobile has unveiled its first self-developed plug-in electric vehicle, the S18, and the Chinese automaker has rival BYD squarely in its sights.

This news comes courtesy of our sister site, Edmunds.com's Inside Line. According to its report, the zero-emissions S18 is powered by a lithium-ion phosphate battery, can run up to 93 miles on one charge and has a maximum speed of 75 mph.

Chery said the battery can be fully charged in four to six hours using a standard household electrical outlet. Specially designed charging devices let owners get the car 80 percent charged in only 30 minutes.

A Chery official said the model will be on sale in the market within a year, priced at about $14,600. The first vehicles will be provided to government institutions for trial use.

Chery, which launched a prototype hybrid last month that could save up to 10 percent on fuel consumption, also plans to launch a midlevel hybrid this year.

Chinese carmakers are racing to launch new-energy vehicles in the wake of a central government decision to put 60,000 new-energy vehicles on the roads nationwide by 2012. To that end, the government is offering subsidies of up to $36,500 to consumers to encourage them to buy hybrid, electric and fuel-cell vehicles.

Besides Chery, nearly all of China's major automakers have invested heavily in new-energy vehicles. BYD launched the world's first mass-produced hybrid electric vehicle, the F3DM, in December.

Only time will tell which Chinese EV will make it to the U.S. first.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (1); Scott Doggett February 23, 2009, 12:05 PM
Categories:: BYD, Batteries, Chery, China, Emissions, Fuel Economy, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives
Technorati Tags:: BYD

February 10, 2009

China Says It Will Offer Subsidies to Buyers of Hybrid Cars, Trucks and Buses

China has taken steps in recent years to change its reputation as a mass polluter to an environmentally sensitive country.

Its efforts started with a massive Beijing clean-up operation for the Olympics, followed by a $175 billion countrywide clean-up and the closure of some particularly dirty coal power plants.

Soon the country will offer subsidies to the residents and businesses of 13 large cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, who purchase hybrid cars, trucks and buses, or vehicles that run on electricity, liquefied petroleum gas or compressed natural gas.

If the subsidy program succeeds, it might be extended to the rest of China.

Although the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic Hybrid and the domestically produced and recently released BYD F3DM are available in China, fewer than a 1,000 hybrids cars were sold in 2008.

That number will likely change as China produces more hybrids, which are much less expensive than the Japanese hybrids. The size of the subsidies have yet to be announced.

So far, only two Chinese carmakers - Dongfeng Motor and Great Wall Motor (its Kunna EV is pictured) - have announced plans to make electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Posted by: Permalink | Comments (0); Scott Doggett February 10, 2009, 1:37 PM
Categories:: BYD, Chery, Dongfeng, Emissions, Great Wall, Honda, Hybrid, Natural Gas, Plug-ins and Electric, Tax Incentives, Toyota
Technorati Tags:: BYD F3DM

November 17, 2008

Chrysler Plan to Bring Small Chinese Cars to North America Is Reportedly Dead

Chrysler's plan to bring small, fuel-efficient cars made by China's Chery Automobile Co. to North America may be dead, according to a report in today's Automotive News (subscription required).

Last year, Tom LaSorda, Chrysler's CEO at the time, touted a deal in which Chery would supply small cars such as the one pictured here to Chrysler.

The two companies were scheduled to start bringing cars to Mexico this year. But now, neither company is talking about the deal. And a source says the program is on hold.

"I wouldn't place much hope on it," a former Chery executive familiar with the Chrysler deal told Automotive News. "Both companies have their own problems to deal with, and both have run out of money."

He said a major obstacle was the substandard quality of Chery's cars. "Chery knows there is no way for these cars to meet the safety and emission standards of the U.S. market in the near future," the former executive said.

Chrysler and Chery never offered a public timetable for the arrival of Chery-made cars in U.S. showrooms. In a May interview with Automotive News, LaSorda said plans for Chery's U.S. debut were having difficulties.

"We need small cars," said LaSorda, who now is Chrysler's co-president. "Chery's cars are still not ready for that exposure into these markets."