BAIC to build its first electric car
By Andrew C., 30 Aug, 2010. 0 Comments
The potential demand for clean energy cars is seemingly irresistible as yet another carmaker has unveiled its first self-developed electric car. Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Corp (BAIC), a partner of Daimler AG, may be more familiar to readers as having made a bid for General Motors Co.'s Opel unit. BAIC‚ electric car, dubbed as BE701, can go as far as 200 km when fully charged, and has a top speed of 160 kph. Continued after the jump!
No timetable was provided on when mass production of the BE701 will be done. What we know is that there will be a total investment of 2.28 billion yuan ($334 million) to set up the new clean energy vehicle development and manufacturing factory.
BAIC said that the funds would originate from the government and other sources. Located in the outskirts of Beijing, the facility has a capacity to produce 50,000 electric vehicles and 100,000 hybrid models. Again, no specifics or timetable was provided.
BAIC set up this company focused on clean energy vehicles only, expecting to sell between 20,000 to 40,000 green models annually in 2011. BAIC aims that by 2015, it will have annual sales of 15 billion yuan, accounting for between 5 to 10 percent of BAIC's total sales.
[via reuters]
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