Lifan might be a small auto player when compared to other giants like BYD and Geely, as their sales are only 60,000 units per year, but Lifan are a strong auto maker in their local market of Chongqing and South West China where their cars are quite popular due to strong local support. Lifan might lack sales volume, but they make up for it in vision, they are one of the stronger car exporters in China and also have some interesting plans for selling electric cars in 2010.
Lifan’s CEO, Mr. Yin Ming Shan, has never given up his dream to become a major car maker. Lifan started as a motorbike manufacturer and quickly excelled at supplying exactly what the rural communities of South Western China needed exactly, now that those rural communities are prospering and becoming small towns there is a demand for small autos, which Lifan has been eager to supply, but with massive competition from the local auto giant Chang’an it has been difficult for Lifan to stand out in a crowd of cheap Chinese made cars. Mr. Yin has realized this and appears to be planning to become South West China’s BYD, and will begin to offer pure electric versions of its popular models (chiefly the 320 hatch and 520 sedan) with electric drive instead of gasoline models.
Mr. Yin has teamed up with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai which has resulted in the Lifan-CAS company, essentially a joint venture between Lifan and the Chinese Academy of Sciences and will see the two companies work together on developing new batteries, and battery management systems in Shanghai.
Initial sales goals for the JV in 2010 are set at 5000 units of pure electric vehicles, whilst in 2011 they are aiming for 10,000 and hope to double that in 2012 when electric power stations are more common.
Lifan already has two of its models in electric form, the Lifan 320 and Lifan 620. Visitors to the Shanghai World Expo will be able to see the pure electric Lifan 620 on patrol with the Expo Police force, where it is able to reach top speeds of 120kph and can travel upto 200km on a single charge.
A fast charge can take as little as 15 minutes to see it charged to 70%, but a slow home charger can take upto 7 hours. The Chinese media are saying that if the car is charged to full at peak times it will need 15rmb’s worth of electricity ($2.1USD), whilst an off-peak charge will cost as little as 6rmb ($0.87USD).
