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The Perfect EV for Your RV — ZAPPY3 Folding Electric Scooter
ZAPPY3 Folding Electric Scooter
Dear ZAP:
I just wanted to Thank you and to let you know how much I like the Zappy3 and the amount of attention and inquires I have received from people as we tour San Diego. My wife and I are full time RVer’s and are traveling the United States. We are now in San Diego and the last 4 days we have given the Zappy3 a very hard work out. We rode the city trolley on all 3 lines off and on, riding the trolley to stop and see the US Midway museum and taking Old Town trolley around the city. We went to the San Diego Zoo and spent the day and put it to the real test of seeing the whole zoo and doing most of the steep hills without a problem. At the zoo I had 3 or four people take a picture of the Zappy3 and ask for details. And it seemed like dozens of people stopping me and asking about the Zappy3 and where I got it. It allows me to go places and do things I couldn’t do because of my feet issues.
— Ken K., Sioux Falls, Idaho
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- Need an EV for your RV? ZAPPY3 is a Great Way to go!
ZAPPY3 Electric Scooter is Fun, Fast and Now it Folds
For all those times you wished you had an easy, affordable transportation alternative to take on the road, now the ZAPPY3 electric scooter has the flexibility of folding for easy storage in your trunk, boat or RV. Read more…
Celebrating its 17th Anniversary, ZAP Jonway Positions Itself for Future
SANTA ROSA, California (September 23, 2011) – Today electric vehicle pioneer ZAP Jonway (OTC BB: ZAAP) celebrates its 17th Anniversary in the industry. ZAP’s majority acquisition of Chinese automobile manufacturer Zhejiang Jonway Automobile Co. Ltd. earlier this year (which resulted in the corporation formally doing business as ZAP Jonway), the additions of several new executives, and other structural changes have the company freshly focused in a new direction and prepared for future growth.
Engineering & High-Quality, Volume Manufacturing
The acquisition of Zhejiang Jonway Automobile in January was the first in a series of major positive structural changes for ZAP Jonway, including new management, new vehicles, new technologies, streamlining US operations, and a new overall direction.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with all the beneficial changes we’ve made in the last nine months,” says Alex Wang, Co-CEO of ZAP Jonway. “Now that Jonway and ZAP are operating as one entity, we can leverage the expertise of our Californian sales, marketing and engineering teams, and combine it with the high-quality, volume manufacturing of our China manufacturing facility, making us uniquely poised to become the market leader in practical commercial and consumer electric vehicles.” Read more…
Thankz to Luther Burbank School for the Visit
Thanks to Ms. Crapeau's 5th Grade Class from Luther Burbank School, Santa Rosa, California for visiting ZAP
Editorial: State can’t unlink its future from China’s
This editorial appeared in the Sacramento Bee in December, but we reprint it here to offer insight into ZAP’s electric vehicle strategy in China over the past 13 years.
With all the irritations between the United States and China, it is worth noting some opportunities for “competitive cooperation.”
Representatives from Wells Fargo, Deloitte & Touche, and the Bay Area Council helped dedicate the MOU signing between ZAP, Jonway and Yangup.
The latest agreements signed this month between the United States and China should make U.S. businesses more competitive in selling everything from industrial machinery and telecom devices to equipment for large-scale wind farms.
California, particularly, is poised in coming years to benefit from the exchange – if we can get past the usual China-bashing that is a staple of the election campaign season.
For example, companies that participate in the construction of wind farms will now be able to participate in projects to install wind farms in China. Until now, they were not able to participate because their non-Chinese experience could not be used for qualification as a bidder on a China-based project. The new commitment by China will allow those companies to gain access.
California companies with wind farm construction experience could benefit from this new commitment by China.
And as Jennifer Turner of the Wilson Center has said, in many cases, combining the strengths of innovative U.S. technologies and Chinese manufacturing capacity can be an important driver of economic growth and jobs here and in China.
But we have to be looking for commonalities and opportunities. For example, California and China are earthquake prone. China’s going to need to build 30,000 hospitals in the next 10 years. California has a lot of health care companies and a lot of experience building hospitals to meet earthquake standards. That is an exportable skill set.
ZAP Founder showing electric motorcycle to Chen Yin, Party Secretary from Shanghai
The power, transportation, water and building materials sectors look particularly promising for California in forging unusual cross-border partnerships with China.
Here is one small example. California has many of the leading companies and innovators in the electric-vehicle industry.
Santa Rosa-based ZAP Electric Vehicles announced an agreement during Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s September trade mission to China whereby new plug-in vehicle technologies designed in California, combined with China-based manufacturing, will allow ZAP to provide electric charging stations, battery swap-out stations, as well as electric vehicle maintenance and repair depots in Shanghai’s Yangpu District.
Irvine-based Fisker Automotive has signed an agreement with a Chinese retailer to sell its sports luxury plug-in hybrid cars at 200 outlets in China.
Of the five biggest solar plants in China, infrastructure (such as polysilicon production equipment, crystalline ingot growth systems and fusion furnaces) comes from the United States, creating jobs here. Certainly, manufacturing solar panels in China creates jobs in China. But jobs also are created here at the project location.
Consider wind turbines. Designed here. Some components manufactured here, some in China. Assembled in China. Pylons built here. Installation here. Power generation here. Both sides get jobs.
The picture is much more complex than the “shipping jobs to China” slogan we hear every election season. If we embrace the concept of “cooperative competition” – even as we continue as a nation to seek enforceable agreements against pirating, protectionism and manipulated currency in China – we can take advantage of our strengths to make economic progress during this time of difficult economic transition.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/12/27/3282500/state-cant-unlink-its-future-from.html#ixzz1A5OQl2Yz
Zapino Electric Scooter Earns Rave Reviews
The ZAPINO electric scooter is practical and fun.
150 MPGe or higher? It’s possible with electric scooters and if you’re shopping around, “just about everyone seems to like the Zapino electric scooter by ZAP,” writes Metaefficient.com, which reviewed a dozen different models.
“Style conscious… a touch of Italian élan,” say CNN and AOL Autos. A “hefty steed,” writes others, with “advanced” wheel motor technology, some zoom for “speed demons” with “great storage,” and a “cheap price tag.”
TIME, CNN, AOL Autos, Sierra Club, San Francisco Examiner, Metaefficient, TreeHugger, Sprig, GreenHomeHuddler, customers, dealers and more have all named the Zapino among the top electric scooters.
See video of the Zapino in action on YouTube.com
There are more powerful electric vehicles on two wheels out there; Vectrix is more motorcycle-like with a much higher price tag. Less expensive scooters like eGo with its lightweight, bicycle-like design just doesn’t have that “Quadrophenia” look of the Zapino.
The Zapino is available from ZAP, a company that has been in a pioneer in electric scooters, cars, trucks, ATVs and other vehicles since 1994, with more than 100,000 delivered. So, not only is the Zapino the choice of the experts, media and electric scooter buyers, it’s backed by an experienced supply chain and a network of knowledgeable dealers, sales and service technicians.
If you want to really go green, save green and look cool doing it, the Zapino seems to be the scooter of choice. Read all the reviews available online below.
PERFORMANCE:
“This motor is so powerful it can win drag races against gas scooters, with speed and acceleration that leaves the polluters in their own dust.” — Metaefficient.com
“The most powerful scooter in its class.” – TreeHugger,
“Best suited for darting around city traffic.” — Sierra Club Magazine
“I raced it against some 50 cc gas scooters and the Zapino beat them off the line.” — Baker M. of Colorado.
STYLE
“Style Concious…” — CNN
“A touch of Italian élan.” – AOL autos
The ZAPINO electric scooter has plenty of storage
FUNCTIONALITY
“Nice storage areas for grocery runs.” — Metaefficient.com
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
“EV companies tend to focus on advanced batteries or quick-charging, but I believe wheel motors have been the biggest breakthrough.” — Gary Starr, ZAP Founder, More Info: Click Here
“The hub motor in the rear wheel creates more room on-board for additional batteries… eliminates the need for belts, or chains, resulting in a more enjoyable ride with less vibration and noise, and a smoother acceleration.” — Metaefficient.com
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
“While today’s gasoline and diesel engines utilize less than 50 percent of their available energy, wheel hub motors are projected to use up to 96 percent of the provided electrical energy for vehicle propulsion” – GreenCar.com
ECONOMY
Electric scooters cost about one-third to fuel versus gas. ZAP estimates a full charge for the Zapino at 25 cents, which means it cost about a penny a mile to fuel. A gas scooter can get about 85 MPG, which equates to about three cents per mile. – Source: Motor Scooter Muse
RELIABILITY
“The hub motor in the rear wheel… eliminates the need for belts, or chains… reducing overall maintenance.” — Metaefficient.com
“Hefty steed,” Sprig.com
ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY
“Notably, even if BEVs (battery electric vehicles) are recharged with electricity from power plants that use fossil fuels, they are up to 99 percent cleaner than conventional vehicles and can cut global warming emissions by as much as 70 percent. — Union of Concerned Scientists
PRICE
“The Zapino is a big jump ahead and a whole new market for this company. Given it’s relatively cheap price tag for what it’s offering, I expect these to get fairly popular.” – zoomiscooters
Sources:
Earth2Tech’s Green Overdrive Visits ZAP Electric Vehicles
Al Unser Jr. being interviewed at ZAP by Earth2Tech
A video production team from Earth2Tech Media’s Green Overdrive came out to ZAP on Monday to test drive our latest vehicles and meet ZAP Alias XPRIZE driver Al Unser Junior. Katie Fehrenbacher and Chris Albrecht also caught up with ZAP CEO Steve Schneider and Founder Gary Starr.
Fehrenbacher acknowledged that ZAP is one of the oldest electric vehicle companies out there and asked Starr about ZAP’s initial approach. Starr said ZAP started in 1994 by focusing on affordable electric vehicles, introducing electric bicycles, scooters, ATVs, trucks, then eventually cars. During the segment Fehrenbacher has some fun on ZAP’s smallest EV, the wheel motor driven ZAPPY3 electric scooter.
ZAP also presented its new project with China’s Jonway Auto, an all electric SUV project launched a year ago. Fehrenbacher brought up ZAP’s recent acquisition agreement to acquire a majority share in Jonway Auto with the right to acquire the rest by next year. They went for a drive at freeway speeds in the ZAP Jonway all electric A380, a test drive eerily reminiscent of a video taken in December 2009. Fehrenbacher asked how fast the electric SUV goes and ZAP engineer Joe Rajakaruna pointed out that they have never focused on top speeds, because for ZAP’s target market the focus is to comfortably travel freeway speeds, and indeed at minute 2:30 in the video Fehrenbacher estimates they easily reach 60 MPH. The ZAP Jonway electric A380 is the official electric vehicle of the U.S. Pavilion at the World Fair in Shanghai.
Steve Schneider
Later Fehrenbacher caught up with CEO Steve Schneider, touching on media reports critical of ZAP’s “failures” in delivering electric vehicles, a question that completely ignores the fact that ZAP has delivered over 117,000 of a broad range of electric vehicles from bikes, to scooters, to trucks.
Q: Katie Fehrenbacher: You talk a little bit about being misconstrued as a marketing company and a little bit about some of ZAP’s failures – SS: Mis-categorized — in being able to scale up manufacturing wise and I think there’s been a variety of dates missed on commercial productions that’s been widely reported…”
A: Steve Schneider: And I don’t think if you looked at any other auto manufacturer that is introducing a vehicle, that the dates that we targeted, (and we’re not a manufacturer; we had the contracts but we had third parties to deal with besides ourselves, but I don’t think you could come up with a manufacturer that hasn’t come out with a product that has missed their target date and had control of their manufacturing), we never had control of our manufacturing, so we always gave the target dates that our contract manufacturers had given to us. And so, because of those things and missing those target dates, we focused very heavily in the last 18 months to have our own manufacturing capacity so that we can control that. We still might miss a target date like everyone else, but at least we’re in control of it, we were not in control of it before.
Despite the inquiry on ZAP’s ability to deliver electric vehicles, there is no mention in Green Overdrive’s video of its most popular EV currently, the ZAP XL electric truck. ZAP recently sold a small fleet of electric trucks to the City of Riverside. Likewise, there was no mention of ZAP’s engineering contract with the U.S. Postal Service to convert one of its Long Life Vehicles to run on electricity. Obviously there is much more going on at ZAP than you can cover in a 5 minute video. You can watch a 30 minute tour of ZAP by Steve Schneider on YouTube that covers the XL truck and USPS contract.
Al Unser Jr. with the ZAP Alias electric car
Finally, Fehrenbacher interviewed Al Unser Jr., two-time winner of the Indy 500 and co-driver for the ZAP Alias team entered in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE.
Katie Fehrenbacher: So you’re doing this partly for environmental reasons, becoming a do-gooder after a lifetime of driving race cars.
Al Unser Jr.: I’m doing this mainly to develop the automobile in the area of alternative fuels and getting away from the addiction to the petroleum products.
KF: What do you think of it compared to a gas based car?
AU: I loved it , the major difference first and foremost is how quiet it is; there’s just no sound coming out of it. And it’s instant power, I noticed that the torque is very high on it, when you drive the car, it drives just like a regular car, except again for how quiet it is, it’s just super quiet.
KF: You think that’s a good thing, you don’t miss the big, booming engines?
AU: Not at all.
Learn more about the ZAP Alias Team entered in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE on their Team Blog.
See more at Earth2Tech’s Green Overdrive.
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ZAP Alias Blog
Follow the ZAP Alias in the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize
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