An electric car start-up that has been operating under the radar for a number of years says it is prepared to launch an electric vehicle on the U.S. market in May 2009.
Winnsboro, S.C.-based RTEV and Chinese carmaker Shuanghuan Automobile have created a partnership to convert a small gasoline-powered two-seater into an electric vehicle with a 60-mile range.
RTEV will build the vehicle’s electric drive systems, which employs plug-in, dry-cell sealed batteries. Shuanghuan will produce the rest of the car, which resembles the DaimlerChrysler Smart Car. The gasoline version of the vehicle, which has been sold in Europe and China since 2000, is called the Noble.
The electric version, which the company says will be selling in global markets by July, will be called the Wheego Whip.
RTEV has been making electric recreational vehicles for a number of years. The company says it expects to sell 1,000 Whips in the U.S. in 2009, and eventually will switch to lithium-ion battery technology.
The car will initially be marketed as a low-spee vehicle–despite its ability to reach 70 mph–until it has received crash-test certification.
A similar partnership was announced recently between Toronto-based electric drive company Electrovaya and Chinese carmaker Changan Automobile Group.
Read the RTEV story below.
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Electric vehicles are the sustainable vehicle model for the future, not only because they reduce pollution by producing no emissions whatsoever; but it is these vehicles that are capable of being powered by renewable sources of energy: you can use solar or wind to make the electricity that powers them, which is what will make the real difference in the long run.