FAW Group outlines aggressive China EV strategy; targeting 15% EV market share in 6 years

During the recent Beijing motor show last, FAW Group outlined its new energy vehicle strategic plan. By 2020 the automaker intends to have 6 new energy vehicle platforms and 16 vehicle models with mass market capability. FAW plans to take a 15% market share in the EV segment.

FAW also launched 4 new EVs at Auto Beijing 2014: Besturn B50-PHEV, Besturn B50-EV, VITA-EV and Oley-EV. The PHEV can reduce fuel consumption by more than 60% compared to a conventional vehicle, FAW said, while the range of the EV models is between 150-200 km (93-124 miles).

The EVs can be fully charged in 6 hours, or in 30 minutes with fast charging. The price range of the 4 new EVs is from 219,800 to 258,800 yuan (US$35,000 to $41,000).

In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Dai Dali, general manager of FAW’s new energy vehicle unit said that the company hopes to sell several thousand electric vehicles by next year, especially in the most polluted cities.

We will first target cities that are under the greatest pressure to cut air pollution, particularly those that have set limits on new [non-electric] car licences.

—Dai Dali

FAW has made about 300 EVs so far on a trial basis.

China's FAW Group's new plug-in hybrid is a bit Volt-like

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, the Chevrolet Volt can start to blush.

China's FAW Group is looking to develop a car similar to General Motors' Volt extended-range plug-in, Ward's Auto reports.

The vehicle, which has been under development for about a decade, can go a Volt-like 37 miles in all-electric mode and has a full-tank-plus-full-charge range of about 250 miles, Ward's said, citing a presentation from China FAW research and development president Li Jun at the Advanced Vehicle Technologies and Integration conference in Changchun, China.

The car uses a 0.7 liter, 56-horsepower, two-cylinder turbocharged engine as an on-board generator, and has a nine-kWh LG Chem battery (to compare, the Volt has a 16-kWh battery, but only uses around 9-10 kWh). The vehicle is about 1,300 pounds lighter than the Volt's nearly 3,800-pound curb weight, according to Ward's. The company estimated that the extended-range plug-in set-up boosts vehicle costs, compared to a conventional car, by about $8,600, though didn't give any details on possible production.

FAW, which has had a joint-venture vehicle-making entity in China with Volkswagen for more than 20 years, unveiled its first alt-fuel vehicles in August 2011 with a plug-in hybrid vehicle that could go 44 miles in all-electric mode on a full charge and an all-electric car that had a single-charge range of 111 miles. Early last year, FAW said it had registered 65 advanced-powertrain technology patents, though just a fraction of its nearly $2 billion in research and development spending between 2006 and 2010 was related to advanced powertrains.




Source: Autoblog Green

VW's China-only, electric vehicle-only sub-brand will be called Kai-Li

FAW-Volkswagen Bora

Back in December of 2010, the FAW-Volkswagen joint venture unveiled the electric E-Bora in the Chinese city of Changchun. The vehicle, built with core components made in China, utilizes the underpinnings of the standard Bora (called the Jetta in the U.S.) pictured above. FAW-VW asserts that the E-Bora will eventually hit dealer lots in China. However, it seems likely that the electric sedan, as well as other battery-powered vehicles manufactured by FAW-VW, will wear a Kai-Li badge.

Why's that? Well, according to China Car Times, Kai-Li is to be the name of the sub-brand of vehicles produced by FAW-VW and sold exclusively in the Chinese market. Furthermore, the report states that FAW-VW's Kai-Li brand will focus solely on electric vehicles. The Kai-Li sub-brand has not been officially launched. Rather, it apparently leaked out of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's quarterly report, which listed a mysterious vehicle with the codename of FV7002 under the Kai-Li sub-brand from FAW-VW.


Source: Autoblog Green

Toyota to make plug-in hybrids in China

The Nikkei reports that Toyota Motor Corp. plans to begin assembling plug-in hybrids in China by 2012. The joint venture with China FAW Group Corp. will make the hybrids, with output likely starting at a few thousand units a year. The Chinese are serious about their alternate energy vehicles.

The joint venture already has a track record for producing the Prius, the Japanese carmaker’s mainstay hybrid. Toyota intends to position the joint venture as the Chinese supply base for plug-ins, which are touted as the next big thing in environmentally friendly vehicles.

Ahead of starting Chinese production and sales, Toyota will test the vehicles in Tianjin. It will study their performance based on road conditions and use the data it collects on fuel efficiency, recharging speed and other factors for local manufacturing.