A small Canadian electric car company is poised to unleash a ground-shaking generation of electric cars using breakthrough technology that could turn the automotive industry upside down.
Zenn Motor Company is already doing a pretty good job of making its small electric cars, even if most Canadians have no idea that a company in their own country is producing such a thing. Many had not heard of the company until Canuck-comedian Rick Mercer did a skit about it on his popular parody news show, the Rick Mercer Report.
That might be because it's almost exclusively sold in the United States and has encountered regulatory obstacles getting on the road in most Canadian provinces. To date, only British Columbia, and recently Quebec, have approved the car despite it earning Transport Canada's National Safety Mark for low-speed vehicles in late 2007.
The ZENN (which stands for Zero Emissions, No Noise) is a small, fully electric car, and has a federally regulated maximum speed of 40 km/h. The two-passenger hatchback retails for US$15,995. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Zenn Motor Company Inc. recently sold over four million shares at $3.75 each to raise $15.2 million dollars.
Although it's current model has a 50 to 80-km range per charge, it has a potentially revolutionary deal in the works that has market analysts excited at the possibility that those recent shares could jump to 15 or 20 dollars.
That deal is the exclusive worldwide rights to market a new battery system for all cars under 1,400 kg. Until now the major obstacle to marketing electric cars has been batteries that were too expensive, too heavy, or too short on power. The new technology, created by EEStor could change all of that.
By Fall 2009 the motor company plans to launch cityZENN, a fully certified, highway capable car with a top speed of 125 km/h with a range of 400 km that can recharge in less than five minutes. The operating cost of the new batteries is one-tenth of a regular internal combustion engine, according to ZENN Motor Company.
The other company with rights to the EEStor technology is U.S. defence contractor Lockheed Martin, which plans to use the technology in fighter jets.
The potential of the new battery has investors jumping on ZENN's stock, which will jump or sink according to the success or failure of the batteries, suggest analysts. On Bloomberg TV, Rick Welty, of investment advisory firm Welty Capital Management, said the stock could tank to $1 if the battery fails or jump to $20 if it succeeds. The shares have already climbed 81 per cent in the past three months on the Toronto Venture Exchange.
EEStor, a privately held and secretive company based in Texas has said it expects its technology to be commercially ready within six months.
If that holds true, the little heard of ZENN could become a household name overnight.
The company is currently looking at expanding into the Canadian market following the Quebec provincial government's recent decision to launch a three-year pilot program to allow low-speed vehicles, like the ZENN on the roads.
Meanwhile, the company will continue selling its cars across the United States, the only country that currently has retail locations, according to the manufacturer's website. The Epoch Times was unable to reach a ZENN representative by press time (we missed each other's calls twice) but according to various sources the ZENN sells for around US$12,000 to $16,000. No price was available for the cityZENN.
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