World cars will follow China, Agassi says

Source: Global Times
[02:02 April 26 2010]
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By Chen Xiaomin

Bugatti's new Veyron

China is emerging as the world's largest market for alternative energy vehicles, particularly since the government designated 13 cities last year for participation in a green vehicle pilot program.

"Wherever China will go, eventually that will be the global standard," Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of the electrical vehicle (EV) network and services provider Better Place, told the Global Times Friday at the Beijing Auto Show. "The Chinese government is looking for possibilities to find alternative solutions for the present fuel-powered technologies. And we are one of the advanced possibilities with an ensured supply chain and the right partners," Agassi said.

California-based Better Place develops networks of charge spots and battery switching stations for electric vehicles, provides in-car services to help drivers plan trips in their EVs, and offers software to optimize the use of energy and minimize the need for additional electricity generation and transmission infrastructure.

Better Place, whose investors include HSBC and Morgan Stanley, is set to develop switchable-battery electric vehicle prototypes with Chinese automaker Chery Automobile.

The company said it has talked with the Chinese government at varied levels over the past year and a half to secure a slice of the burgeoning new energy market.

Another California-based consumer electric vehicle provider, ZAP, is pursuing cooperation in China. The company outsources all auto parts, focusing only on integration. ZAP and Chinese Zhejiang Jonway Automobile partnered on the production of the five-door Jonway A380 SUV, a high performance mid-range electric vehicle that ZAP intends to offer to the fleet market in China.

ZAP said on its website it will jointly market and sell electric vehicles with Jonway in China, North America and Europe.