Sedan could be EV gamechanger
Will this be the electric vehicle that changes expectations?
It’s a five-passenger sedan that combines a Chinese chassis and body with an American battery pack and drive train.
It’s to be made in Mississippi and, if all goes well and final tests are passed, it will arrive here late this year. It boasts the usual 160-kilometre range and six-to-eight-hour charging time. What’s the big deal? Price. Marianne McInerney of GreenTech Automotive, the U.S.-based company involved in this venture with China’s state-owned JAC Motors, says the car will sell for less than $25,000. And its 19 kilowatt-hour battery pack should qualify for the full $8,500 EV incentive from the Ontario government, which means buyers here will be able to pick one up for $16,500 or less — before options, freight, taxes and a home charging station. That’s still not cheap, but it is getting down to where it might become popular, despite sharing the limitations of all EVs.
A few columns ago, I suggested EV manufacturers focus on higher-end models, for customers who don’t fret over price tags, until battery technology makes a major leap toward better performance and lower cost. Some, it seems, are trying to prove me wrong. I hope so. Nissan introduced a more basic version of its Leaf for 2013 and chopped the American cost by about $6,000, to $28,800. (That’s before incentives, which is how I’ll cite prices from here on.) Canadian numbers aren’t yet available, but we can expect a substantial drop from the current minimum of $38,395. For now, the Leaf is North America’s cheapest five-seat EV.
Smart claims to be Canada’s lowest-priced EV, at $26,990, albeit with two seats and a small trunk.
Others remain on the pricey side: Mitsubishi’s iMiEV climbed $1,000, to $33,998, in Canada this year. The Chevrolet Spark EV is expected to sell for about $32,500 in the U.S. and Ford’s Focus EV is a stratospheric $40,699.
What’s interesting is whether the GreenTech/JAC venture can force prices lower.
McInerney says one key is the body and chassis kit that JAC will ship from China. It’s based on JAC’s Rejoice model, which sells in the hundreds of thousands, generating economies of scale.
GreenTech will provide all the electric bits, based on its two-seat MyCar, now only a slow-speed vehicle, limited to 40 km/h, but to be developed into a full-speed version. Like most Chinese vehicles, the styling is pedestrian. The interior isn’t up to North American standards but GreenTech says it’s working with JAC on upgrades.
The car has great handling, ride, trunk space and seats, McInerney says. “We’re putting American know-how together with a terrific platform. The car will be assembled in the United States to our standards. The powertrain is entirely ours. . . . We think it will hit the mark.”
Don’t expect this new EV to sweep North America. The existing plant can produce only 15,000 units per year and a planned new factory nearby will boost that to 50,000 with two shifts working. That’s not a lot in a vehicle market of millions, and MyCars, which sell mainly in Europe, will come off the same line. So this year’s goal is just 2,000 of the five-seaters.
Even that total is no slam-dunk: GreenTech has no dealer network, encountered delays, and its founder, Terry McAuliffe — who chaired campaigns for Bill and Hillary Clinton — has become a political lightning rod. And, assuming this EV emerges on schedule, reviewers and consumers must like it.
It’s simply cheap enough to have a shot at avoiding the sorry fate of another U.S./China EV collaboration, the newly bankrupt Coda Automotive — whose cars cost nearly twice as much. If it manages that feat, it just might lead people to believe EVs should be affordable, as well as green. wheels@thestar.ca