Zhejiang Wanxiang Group to make electric cars

Shanghai, April 28 (Gasgoo.com) Electric cars will soon be widely used in the daily lives of Hangzhou residents. The locally-made electric vehicle won't need refueling and can run 200 km on a full recharging, xinhuanet.com reported today.

The groundbreaking ceremony for Wanxiang Group's lithium battery and electric vehicle production base, also designated as the Hangzhou pilot project of new-energy automobile demonstration and commercialization, was recently staged in Xiaoshan district of Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang province.

The base is expected to reach an annual capacity of producing 1,000 electric commercial vehicles and one billion watts of lithium battery by 2010. Another 1.365 billion yuan ($200 million) will be invested in this base.

The electric vehicles, which can run 200 km per recharge, get energy supply in three ways: First, the swift switch of batteries, replacing one battery pack by another in five minutes; second, a quick recharge with a special charger, replenishing the energy by 50% in 20 minutes; thirdly, a slow recharge with an on-vehicle charger, fully recharging the electric car in six hours.