News

ZAP and Advanced Battery Achieve EV Range Increase

June 27, 2005 by Jeff Shepard

ZAP (Sebastopol, CA) announced that it has received the first test results as part of its cooperation agreement with Advanced Battery Technologies Inc. (ABAT, China). Under the terms of the strategic partnership agreement, ZAP provided ABAT with several electric vehicles, including a ZAP low-speed vehicle (LSV). ABAT then retrofitted the ZAP LSV with its next-generation lithium-polymer batteries. Performance test results of the retrofitted vehicle indicate that the LSV range increased from 40 km (25 miles) to 150 km (90 miles) - more than a threefold increase in range.

"This test shows promise, but we believe we can still do better," stated ABAT Chairman Zhiguo Fu. "Our engineering team is continuing to work on additional solutions to combine our advanced lithium-polymer technology and ZAP's electric vehicles."

ABAT's batteries combine high-energy chemistry with state-of-the-art polymer technology, overcoming many of the shortcomings associated with other types of rechargeable batteries. ZAP will take advantage of the high-performance features of the ABAT battery technology to further enhance their electric vehicles in the worldwide advanced transportation marketplace.

"These excellent results underscore our initial research suggesting that the next-generation solutions developed by Advanced Battery Technologies would result in significant improvements in range of ZAP's electric vehicles," said ZAP CEO Steve Schneider. "We believe many of their products will assist us as we continue to expand our electric transportation product line at all levels, from personal to public transportation, including the possibility of producing an electric version of the Smart Car."