ZAP electric car company looks for federal assistance
Articles — By forcechange on November 20, 2008 12:59 pm
More bad news is coming out of the electric vehicle industry– Plans by ZAP Electric Cars to build a manufacturing plant in Kentucky have stalled due to the loss of $125 million in financing from GE Capital. The plant was slated to employ 4,000 workers and has been promised $48 million in tax incentives from Kentucky. This is not enough, however, to induce the somewhat controversial company to move forward with the plant.
ZAP is now looking for $150 million to $200 million in federal assistance or alternative financing. Its fleet of quirky looking three-wheeled EVs are currently built in China.
Update: Alex from ZAP left a comment below, addressing a few points from our post and other commenters. He wanted to make it clear that it is not ZAP that is deciding whether to build the factory in Kentucky, but rather a company called Integrity Manufacturing. He also addressed the point made in the comments section about recycling batteries, noting, that according to a battery industry trade group, “lead-acid batteries are the most recycled consumer product in the world, more than aluminum, glass or steel.”
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Why would I want to swap hundreds of pounds of batteries every 3-6 years? Isn’t that a tangible environmental disaster when multiplied by millions of cars they would want to make and sell? Who is the moron that supports this?
Most of the components in batteries can be recycled.
I would say if GE backed out on the loan, this is the issue, not do they have enough gov’t subsidy. If one of the weasle banks would step up, the plant would likely roll by the sounds of it.
Do like everyone else is doing. Buy a tiny bank for 5 million, then get 500million from the TARP. Done deal.
Couple things:
ZAP already makes electric vehicles. The Kentucky electric vehicle assembly project is controlled by Integrity Manufacturing of Shepherdsville, Kentucky. If they can build vehicles for ZAP, we are very interested.
Lead-acid batteries and required to be recycled by law. Battery Council International says lead-acid batteries are the most recycled consumer product in the world, more than aluminum, glass or steel.
I have had a Zap Xebra PK for about two years now. Its my second electric car.
Even a vague search on Zap will bring for interesting information, to say the least. Read Wired’s article on them or check their business history. I can only comment on the quality of their vehicles. I’ve had to repair so many things the first year alone, that I recommend not buying their cars. And if their business history is any indication, no one in their right mind would give them money or apply for a vendorship.
Do your research on them.
Integrity Automotive CEO Randall Waldman got the ‘boot’ this week. Zap Manufacturing of Kentucky, Inc filed as the new name of Integrity Automotive under a guy name Gary Dodd who owns a local Kentucky business. Gary Dodd was the former President of Integrity Automotive under Waldman. Apparently Waldman sold out his entire interest in the project to the Dodds. Waldman & his former Integrity companies have many lawsuits of indebtness following them.
Don’t think they can get DOE funding if they stuck with Waldman , he looks like a bad credit risk. This other guy Dodd
has an Orvis franchise.. kind of the high end of sportsman but I am sure he is into it because its an EV vehicle.