More details emerge on Zotye electric SUV [w/video]

The Zotye electric SUV, manufactured by China-based Zotye Holding Group, is touted as having a range of up to 250 150 miles, can supposedly hit a top speed of 70 miles per hour and is backed by a three-year/50,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. Unfortunately, its 25.6 kWh lithium-ion battery pack is no longer warranted for 185,000 miles. Hope that's not a deal breaker.

The front-wheel drive Zotye electric SUV is equipped with a 27-kW (36-horsepower) DC motor that cranks outs 162 pound-feet of torque. The Zotye supposedly tips the scales at just 2,640 pounds and its total length measures in at 12.8 feet. The electric SUV comes equipped with features like A/C, power windows and locks, a DVD audio system and even a quick-charge port.

Zotye says that the electric SUV will sticker for $29,995 less than $34,995 when it hits U.S. turf. When is that? Well, it's the second quarter of 2011, according to Green Automotive Company (GAC), the sole U.S. distributor of Zotye vehicles. By October 2012, Zotye expects U.S. sales of its electric SUV to hit 35,000 and says that it has enough production capacity to pump out 8,000 of these electrified SUVs a month.

Fred Luke, president of GAC, says that the company intends to "stay on track toward meeting our goal of launching retail sales of the All-Electric SUV in the U.S. through a network of selected dealerships (rumored to number more than 100) by the end of this year." Hit the jump to catch a video test drive of the electric Zotye SUV.

[Source: Green Automotive Company]

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