Toronto's Zenn stops making electric cars

Toronto's Zenn stops making electric cars

September 28, 2009

FROM THE STAR'S WIRE SERVICES

In an apparently radical shift in plans, Toronto-based electric car company Zenn Motor Company Inc. says it decided to switch its business strategy from selling electric vehicles to distributing an electric drive train.

As a result, the company will no longer be building its cityZenn car, instead focusing on what its calls the ZENNergy drive train. This would be an EESU-powered drive train that can be installed in the cars of other automakers.

"The way things have really changed over the last year – there have been such dramatic shifts and focus on electric vehicles – it doesn't make a lot of business sense for us to go into the distribution and sale of the vehicle," said Zenn chief executive Ian Clifford.

Clifford, like the rest of the world, is still waiting for EEStor to come through with a pre-production battery.

"We are working on a daily basis with EEStor on this final milestone – this very, very critical milestone – because it takes us to commercial viability," Clifford said.

U.S.-based battery maker EEStor Inc. is developing a battery that aims to charge in minutes and power a car for 400 kilometres at speeds up to 125 km/h.

Zenn has a 10.5-per-cent stake in the company. Meanwhile, Clifford is in talks with other automakers who might be interested in EESU-powered cars. Zenn also has the exclusive rights to sell the technology for cars up to a maximum weight and retrofit cars more than one year old.

Zenn still plans to build proof-of- concept cars, but won't mass produce them.

The company in a statement said the its previously announced cityZenn highway-capable electric vehicle will not be developed into a standalone commercially available offering.

"Integration of the Zennergy drive in vehicles has always been our long-term objective," said Clifford.

"We want to partner with all OEMs (original equiment manufacturers) so that consumers can drive a variety of electric vehicles across numerous automotive brands with one common denominator–they are all powered by Zennergy." Zenn has built about 350 all-electricm, two -seater vehicles that sell for about $15,995 (U.S.) and have a range of 80 kilometres.