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Zap readies new urban EV 'Urbee' for smoggy China

Zap Jonway is introducing an urban electric vehicle whose name frankly makes it sound a little bit like a stuffed animal. It's called the "Urbee." Batteries are included.

Zap Jonway, whose Zap parent is based in Santa Rosa, CA, and whose Jonway subsidiary is in Zhejiang, China, showed off the Urbee at the China Electric Motor Vehicle Exhibition last month. The company is looking to sell the vehicles to municipalities of so-called secondary Chinese cities, many of which have pollution problems that dwarf even that of the legendarily smoggy Beijing. No prices were disclosed for the car that has a "city driving" top speed and be able to go as far as 90 miles on a single charge. Power-assist steering and optional heat and air-conditioning systems are also part of the package.

Last year, the company said it was preparing to debut four electric-vehicle lines in China. Zap Jonway's 5-Star Minivan was priced at about $12,000 and has an 88-mile single-charge range, while three- and five-door electric SUV models were being prepared for launch. For those models, Zap Jonway is banking on demand driven, in part, by the approximately $9,500 in China-government electric-vehicle incentives. And that doesn't include additional city-specific perks. Check out Zap Jonway's press release below.
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ZAP and Jonway Auto Unveils Smallest Family of EVs with "Urbee"

Attracting New Set of EV Dealerships at the China Electric Motor Vehicle Exhibition

SANTA ROSA, Calif., April 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- ZAP (ZAAP), an automotive company incorporated in California and headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, jointly with Jonway Auto, its subsidiary in Zhejiang, China, unveils the smallest family in their EV product line - the Urban EV, "Urbee," a city utility fleet EV targeting Chinese city municipal vehicles and local city commuters at the China Electric Motor Vehicle Exhibition show held in early March in Zhejiang, China. This new mini Urbee opens up a whole new channel of dealerships and agents that addresses vertical markets for utility government vehicles and specializes in targeting city drivers for the urban markets in secondary cities. Designed for stability and comfort, Urbee is economically priced to attract the aging population in smaller cities where there is a growing demand for economical safe compact vehicles for everyday errands.

Fighting air pollution is now a national imperative and a top priority as declared by China's President XI Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. Caps on pollution indices for the top cities are being set by the central government, and any cities exceeding their thresholds will result in fines for the local governments. Of the violators, Beijing is not the worst offender. There are many more secondary cities in China that are suffering far greater pollution that must reduce auto emissions to address air pollution. More enforcement is being put in place to compel auto users to adopt EVs, such as requiring that all government vehicles with emissions to be taken off the roads on days when the pollution indices are exceeded. Government municipals are now urgently buying EV fleets as the only economic and ecological alternative.

Urbee completes a full range of EVs targeting the escalating EV market for ZAP Jonway; from the SUV, to Jonway's minivan to the recently announced SPARKEE, and now extending to the mini Urbee. Urbee is designed and manufactured with auto safety chassis, power assisted steering and optional HVAC. The team at Jonway Auto produced this design anticipating the growing demand in China's secondary cities where pollution and gas prices are driving the need and interests. Its 150Km range and city driving speeds is ideal for daily errands and well positioned as a utility and delivery vehicle for city government and institutions.

About ZAP and Jonway Auto
ZAP and Jonway Auto designs and manufactures quality, affordable gasoline and new energy electric vehicles (EVs). Jonway Automobile has ISO 9000 manufacturing facilities, engineering, sales and customer services facilities in China, ZAP Jonway has production capacity of up to 50,000 vehicles per year, and has sales distribution network in China. ZAP, an early pioneer of EVs, brings to both companies a broad range of EV design experience that is applied to the new product lines. ZAP Jonway is headquartered in Santa Rosa, California and Jonway Auto is located in Zhejiang Province of the People's Republic of China. Additional information about ZAP Jonway is available at http://www.zapworld.com.

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