Brazilian automotive company OBVIO! will develop and introduce lithium-ion-powered electric cars based on its 828 and 012 microsport car designs (earlier post) for export to North America.
OBVIO! has a strategic partnership with California automobile distributor ZAP (who also markest the Smart Car in North America), which has agreed to be the exclusive North American distributor and has pre-purchased 50,000 OBVIO! units.
The initial versions of the 828 and 012 car designs will be flex-fueled, and will go into production in 2007. The 828E and 012E - the EV versions of OBVIO!'s two models - will not be far behind, according to OBVIO! President Ricardo Machado.It is clear to me that electricity has a big future in the auto industry. OBVIO !’s business model of 100 percent outsourced supplier relationships allows for the speed and flexibility to incorporate a new drive system powered by electricity by our second model year.
The preliminary specifications for the OBVIO! electric cars include a range of 200 to 240 miles, with acceleration from 0 to 60 mph of less than 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 120 mph. A 39 kWh lithium-ion battery system will power the 120 kW (160 hp), 220 Nm (162 lb-ft) electric motor.
[Image: The OBVIO! 828]
A full normal recharge will take five hours, with a fast charge taking two hours. A 30-minute quick charge will provide a 20 to 50 mile range.
OBVIO! is also providing a bi-directional vehicle-to-grid (V2G) interface.
Target prices for the 828E and 012E are $49,000 and $59,000 respectively.
[A hat tip to Green Car Congress]
Friday, July 21, 2006
OBVIO!/Zap to Sell Electric Cars in North America
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2 comments:
zap already shipped 200 cars to US
SmartCar Fortwo and forfour
Right, they shipped 200 smarts, but not the OBVIO! designs that this article is focused on. Those won't hit the U.S. for a while.
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