ZAP announced that it has received an order for $79 Million from a Chicago-based start-up, The Electric Vehicle Company (EVC).
EVC was founded with the goal of promoting economical non-polluting electric transportation. EVC is being funded by two hedge funds, Diversified Equity Funding, L.P. and Diversified Strategies Fund, LLC, which both have an investment interest in ZAP. EVC will focus on sales of electric vehicles to municipalities, distributors, university campuses, auto and recreational dealers, foreign countries and the military. Additionally, the company has the goal of developing the first retail chain committed to the sale of all electric vehicles. The two funds have committed the funding necessary to develop the marketing organization. The hedge funds will also provide financing for the purchase of ZAP vehicles by fleets and municipalities
ZAP CEO Steve Schneider said the order is for ZAP’s electric cars, trucks and other vehicles. Schneider noted that EVC would receive an 8% discount if orders were filled within the next 12 months. The order is subject to meeting the performance criteria of EVC and certain terms of ZAP.
"We believe this order, which constitutes thousands of vehicles, is the largest order for consumer electric vehicles in history," said Steve Schneider, CEO of publicly owned ZAP. "Many municipalities have been talking recently about mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, so we are grateful to be involved in this historic effort."
Schneider noted that in March, large pension funds and business enterprises called for Congress to place limits on emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming, the latest among several business-oriented groups to call for a national climate policy.
ZAP, the only full-line electric vehicle company in the US, made news recently with the sale of its XEBRA electric cars and trucks, the first vehicles designed for the US market by a Chinese automobile manufacturer. ZAP also recently announced an automotive business plan to design a new generation of high performance electric vehicles designed by Lotus Engineering.
