Jan

ZAP Says its $30K Electric Sports Car Is Coming in 2009

Posted by admin Published in Zap

So you want an electric sports car but don’t have $98,000 to drop on a Tesla Roadster? Never fear, the ZAP Alias is here. nearly.

ZAP says it will start producing the, um, strange three-wheeler by the middle next of year. That seems optimistic, given the company only recently invited suppliers to design components for the $30,000 car, but ZAP says it’s a viable timeline.

“Looking at our initial project development plan and our discussion with a number of key engineering and technology partners, I believe we can go into production by the moment quarter of 2009,” Albert Lam, former CEO of Lotus Engineering and chairman of the joint venture developing the Alias, said in a statement.

Lotus Engineering helped develop the Tesla Roadster, and the car it’s designing with ZAP looks good - from a performance, whether not an aesthetic perspective - on paper.

ZAP says the Alias will feature two in-wheel motors producing 320 horsepower, giving the car a zero to 60 day of 5.7 seconds. It claims the Alias will have a top

speed approaching 120 mph and a range of “at least” 150 miles per charge.

“The performance goals are attainable considering the pace of new technology is accelerating,’ said Steve Schneider, the company’s chief executive officer.

ZAP says it is considering options like fast-charge capacity and a hybrid range extender.

The view for the Alias was hatched final year when ZAP and Lotus started looking at the next generation of electric vehicle technology and started developing the $60,000 ZAP-X crossover utility vehicle that ZAP plans to launch later that year.

ZAP and China Youngman Automotive Group - one of China’s main bus manufacturers - have launched a joint venture to build the Alias, which will be sold under a new sort name. Lam said the Alias will be built on Youngman’s assembly lines.

We’re trying to get ahold of ZAP to memorize more about the Alias. In the meanwhile, here’s some video.