Hangzhou's EV project goes forward, gets vague on scope

HybridCars.com - China's 20,000 pure electrical vehicles project in Hangzhou, Zhejiang is slowly taking shape. Zhejiang Guoxin Vehicle Leasing Company (Guoxin) will be handling the marketing, promotion and rental of the vehicles. The rest of it is open to interpretation.

Zhejiang Kandi Vehicles Co., Ltd. has signed a Cooperative Framework Agreement for the Promotion of Self-driving Electric Vehicle Rental for Public Transportation in Hangzhou Project with Zhejiang Guoxin Vehicle Leasing Company at the Energy Saving and New Energy Vehicle Demonstration and Promotion Forum of China International Green Vehicle Industry Expo (quite the mouthful, sorry!) held by the EV Key Project Management Office of Ministry of Science and Technology of China on Aug. 10, 2012.

According to Kandi, the strong support and effort of Zhejiang province and Hangzhou city governments to promote electric vehicle development in scale and establish Hangzhou as a role model city for electric vehicles in China provided this great opportunity to both the parties to reach such an agreement.

From what is stated of the agreement in the press release sent out by Kandi, both companies will cooperate on the Feasibility Study of a Public Transportation Project of 100,000 Self-driving Rental EVs in Five Years in Hangzhou City by Development Research Center of the State Council of China, the China Society Of Automotive Engineers and Zhejiang University.

Of course, Guoxin Leasing indicates that it intends to purchase Kandi brand EVs for the project.

No word has been provided to explain why both parties are suddenly talking of 100,000 units rather than the 20,000 units first announced.

But further in the press release, Kandi states that "parties have not established definite terms including price, quantities and time for delivery and these will be established by separate purchase agreements."

One item seems sure, still according to the release. Guoxin Leasing will first purchase 200 EVs from Kandi Vehicles to launch the project, and the final terms and time for delivery have yet to be determined.

Interestingly, the agreement also states that Kandi Vehicles will have its technicians staying in Gouxin Leasing to provide timely technical support, repair and maintenance services during the beginning stage of the project.

Both parties agree that they will value each other as a critical business partner and strike to achieve mutual development and maximum economic benefits through the cooperation on EV business.