ZAP, from Santa Rosa, CA, with their all electric 3-wheeled vehicle, the Alias has been very productive in the area of bringing their vehicle to market since the end of the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE competition. In January of 2011, ZAP became the first non-Chinese based company to acquire a Chinese automobile Manufacturing facility. The 3.5 million square foot facility is fully provisioned and already producing two sport utility vehicles and a van. “The challenge to acquire the Chinese facility was so great it required the full bandwidth and focus of the company,” stated Steven Schneider, ZAP CEO. “Throughout this process in China, we, at ZAP, fully intended to move forward with the production of the Alias and other affordable electric vehicles for public consumption,” adds Schneider.
Zap Alias
In a discussion on the effects of the X PRIZE, Schneider candidly states that if it had not been for the competition, ZAP may not have pushed forward to produce the Alias. “We may not have won the prize, but with so much attention and so many requests from the public, we had to build it,” said Schneider. ZAP is currently fine tuning a plan to launch the Alias in their Chinese facility by the end of 2nd quarter, 2012. Adds Schneider, “it may have taken longer than we thought, but we are now ready to move forward.”
If that is not enough, keep your eyes open during an upcoming Bruce Willis movie…the Alias is featured in one of the many action scenes!
To see a video of the new ZAP facility in China, click on the video link below:
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