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Canadian NEV-maker Zenn Motor Co. says it will stop making and marketing its $16,000 (U.S.) cityZenn low-speed neighborhood electric vehicle (right), drop plans for a highway-legal Zenn car and is switching its business plan to become distributor of an EV drivetrain.


The company said it is partnering with EEStor, a secretive company that claims to have developed an ultracapacitor-based EV battery that can deliver up to 300 miles of highway-speed range on a single 5-minute charge.


Zenn CEO Ian Clifford told the Toronto Star that it no longer makes business sense for the small company "to go into the distribution and sales" of EVs because of "the way things have really changed over the last year."


He was referring both to the growing number of large automakers announcing electric vehicle plans and to tough new safety rules in Zenn's home province of Ontario that would have required a number of expensive changes to Zenn's cars to make them street legal. Zenn also took a financial beating - along with the rest of the auto industry - as the recession slowed sales this year of its low-speed EV.


While Texas-based EEStor has not yet shown a working model of its ultracapacitor-cum-battery, Clifford said Zenn, which owns a 10.5 percent stake in the company, is "working on a daily basis with EEStor on this final milestone" in battery development that "takes us to commercial viability."  






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Tags: Batteries, Plug-ins and Electric, EEStor, Zenn Motors

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Zenn Motors Switches Strategies From EV-Making to Electric Drive Marketing was originally published by Green Car Advisor. Read the full story by clicking here.