Skip to Content

Don't miss Joystiq's up-to-the-minute live coverage of E3!

Zap working with a Chinese company on in-wheel electric motors

Posted Jan 23rd 2008 at 2:46PM by Lascelles Linton

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Lotus, Volvo, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Zap, China


Recently, I wrote a post that talked about Volvo's statement that they were working exclusively with PML (a company that makes in-wheel electric motors). I found this concerning because I thought PML was working with Zap on the Zap-X, a Lotus-designed, affordable, normal-looking electric car. I contacted Zap Communication's Alex Campbell, who checked with Zap's CEO Steve Schneider about Volvo's statements. Zap says they are in a relationship with PML but only on three-wheeled vehicles. As for four-wheeled cars, Zap tried but it looks like PML went with Volvo. Zap has moved on to a Chinese company that they say is not only cheaper than PML but can provide in-wheel electric motors sooner. So there is no confusion, here is exactly what Zap says:

We signed an exclusive agreement with PML on 3-wheelers and at the time were negotiating with them on other vehicles. We have since partnered up with a company in China with rights to their wheel hub motors. The significance is that the wheel hub motor that we have acquired is currently working in application and we believe will be commercially available within a shorter period of time than PML's. It is my understanding that the PML motor has still yet to work in any automotive application. And they are expensive so it would need to be manufactured in China to stay competitive.

[Source: Alex Campbell from Zap]

Tags: China, electric-car, electric-motor, hub, inwheel, Lotus, PML, PML-FlightLink, Volvo, Zap, Zap-X, zapx

  • Comments (10)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

Featured Galleries

Nissan X-Trail FCV at the Nurburgring

Honda OSM Concept

Spy Shots: Phoenix Motorcars SUV

Spy Shots: Honda Civic Hybrid facelift

Spy Shots: Honda Hybrid-only model

Chevy Aveo Penny Ad

Mitsubishi i MiEV police car

Updated 2008 Citroen C4

Honda FCX Clarity Japan Model

 

Sponsored Links

Featured Galleries

Nissan X-Trail FCV at the Nurburgring

Honda OSM Concept

Spy Shots: Phoenix Motorcars SUV

Spy Shots: Honda Civic Hybrid facelift

Spy Shots: Honda Hybrid-only model

Chevy Aveo Penny Ad

Mitsubishi i MiEV police car

Updated 2008 Citroen C4

Honda FCX Clarity Japan Model

 

Weblogs, Inc. Network