Chery, JAC electric cars to hit domestic market soon

Shanghai November 4 (Gasgoo.com) Two of China's homegrown automakers, Chery Auto and Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co., Ltd. (JAC), said at a "new-energy vehicle forum" held in Anhui on November 2 that they will step up to launch their respective electric cars, hoping that a positive effect can soon be brought to the domestic market, Shanghai Securities News reported Thursday.

Chery Auto will put its electric car on the market on November 5, its vice president Yuan Tao said on the forum. Meanwhile, Xia Shunli, assistant to president of JAC's New Energy Vehicle Research Institute said the company will launch and start volume production of its electric car at the end of this year.

With a maximum speed of 120 kw/h, Chery's electric car is reportedly can travel as far as 160 km on a single charge and be fully charged in 8 hours. The charging station can do so in 45 minutes, costing owners about15-20 yuan ($2.3-$3.0) per vehicle. The car is likely to be priced at around 100,000 yuan, counting in the 60,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan subsidies granted by the Chinese government and the city government of Hefei. The car can also be charged via a household outlet.

A network covering 20 charging stations and 23,000 charging piles will be established in Hefei by 2012 to solve the battery charging issue, the city's vice mayor Yang Zengquan said during the forum.