American company RTEV will bring electric Noble to the USoA.

RTEV (Ruff & Tuff Electric Vehicles) and Shuanghuan Automobile Company announced that they have formed a partnership to produce and market affordable all-electric cars for sale around the world. The first automobile will be a two-seat compact car that will be launched in the United States in May 2009. It will be marketed exclusively by RTEV under the Wheego Whip name in North America and by Shuanghuan Automobile as the Electric Noble (E-Noble) in the rest of the world.

While the car is capable of speeds of 95 kHz (60 mph) it will be sold to different countries specifically designed to meet the safety requirements of the particular country. For example in the U.S. it will be launched as a Low Speed Vehicle (LSV- 25 mph max) or Medium Speed Vehicle (MSV- 35 mph max) depending on local state regulations, until it passes U.S. Department of Transportation safety crash requirements, which is expected sometime in early 2010.

The E-Noble will be manufactured by Shuanghuan at their factory in Shijiahuang. While the Wheego Whip will be based on the Noble platform, it will undergo final assembly, including the motor, drive train, controller, electronic components and be programmed in the U.S. The cars will feature environmentally friendly dry cell sealed (AGM) batteries, which require no maintenance and feature an on-board high tech charger. The car will travel 80 kilometers (50 miles) on a single charge—and plug in for a recharge on any standard household 110 or 220 volt electrical outlet.

“What has really impressed us with Shuanghuan is their attention to detail in providing a high-quality fit and finish and smooth ride to the car,” explained Mike McQuary, RTEV CEO. “Once we locked down the systems and components for a high quality electric drive system, we undertook a global search for a car manufacturer that would meet our expectations of a driving experience that was seamless when compared to its gasoline counterparts. While several car companies that we talked to had solid mechanical systems, it was Shuanghuan that emerged with a commitment to meet the quality standards that American drivers have come to expect in an automobile. Their production of the gas powered Noble gave them a great head start, in that it was more a matter of adaptation of a vehicle, rather than trying to develop something from scratch. They share our vision and see the important potential for the emergence of an electric car as an everyday part of consumer transportation.”

“When we were first approached by RTEV, it was their passion that first got our attention. There have been several companies that have approached us and bought one or two cars and tried to convert them to electric. But it was RTEV that quickly emerged as the technology leader for electric vehicles. Combine this with their successful track record as a management team in other ventures and we knew we had made the right choice for a partner,” said Shuanghuan General Manager Cheng Bing.”

“There is a perfect storm of macro-events that are causing people around the world to take inventory of their personal habits and their effect on the environment across a wide spectrum which includes transportation, and RTEV is entering the marketplace at this pivotal time,” said McQuary, former president of internet service providers MindSpring and EarthLink. “The long-held assumption has been that electric vehicles are quirky and impractical for everyday use, and are of interest to only a small group of eco-friendly consumers. We believe that our vehicles appeal to a huge market segment and will fill a middle market demand gap at the right time, with the right vehicles, and a with national dealer network to provide service and support.”
Shuanghuan Automobile Company has been making cars since 1988. Its current car models include the SCEO SUV and the Noble. The company is focused on zero defect manufacturing processes and passed the ISO9000 quality control system certification in 2000, and gained 3C constraint products certification in 2003.

Homepage of Wheego:
http://wheego.net/more/

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About Whip:
At 25 mph, here comes the Wheego Whip

The concept of an electric vehicle that can’t exceed 25 mph isn’t likely to get anyone’s heart racing, especially with that speed demon the Tesla Roadster around. But they may be on to something with the Wheego Whip.
The car is an LSV, which is short for Low-Speed Vehicle. Through federal regulations, they’re permitted on roads with speed limits of 35 mph or less, but can’t exceed 25 mph. Also, known as Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, some, like Chrysler’s GEM, are more like glorified golf carts. But the Wheego Whip is a real enclosed car, similar in shape and concept to the Smart. For $18,995, you get a two-seater with air-conditioning, power windows, locks, four-wheel disc brakes and an MP3- and iPod-ready stereo. A federal income tax credit covers 10 percent of the purchase price.
Cars like this work for gated communities, college campuses, sprawling tech centers and resorts. According to the Christian Science Monitor, there are 40,000 already on American roads.
There’s an interesting history here. As President Jeff Boyd explains it, the company was founded (as Ruff and Tuff Products) several years ago in South Carolina, primarily making golf carts. In 2007, company head Bo Huff approached a merchant bank looking for expansion capital. One of the bank’s partners just happened to be Mike McQuary, former president of Internet provider Mindspring Enterprises (now merged with EarthLink).
McQuary liked the technology so much that he invested in it and became CEO. “I have a driveway full of electric cars,” says McQuary. “The Whip is the best electric car in the world!”
Ruff and Tuff will sell you anything from a golf cart to a camouflage-painted, four-wheel-drive hunting vehicle. The really exciting news, says Boyd, is that the Wheego part of the company will be fielding a highway-capable small car, based on the Whip, early next year. The unnamed new car with lithium-ion batteries, will have a 100-mile range. The price will be in the $24,000 range.
The Wheego Whip costs three cents a mile to operate, and the highway car shouldn’t cost much more. “Our research shows that 80 percent of commutes are under 40 miles,” Boyd says. “So if we achieve a 100-mile range with the highway car, that’s like three days of commuting, a nice place to be. Of course, the holy grail is 200 miles, which closely approximates what you can get with internal combustion.”

These electrics have an international supply chain. The chassis is made in China, and the cars are shipped to California for installation of the U.S.-made components. The first Whips will be on the road in May.

aha there is gonna be some dramas :nod:

Presentation at Autoblog:
http://green.autoblog.com/2009/10/05/altcar-2009-wheego-whip-quick-drive-is-this-the-cadillac-of-n/

First off, what is the Wheego Whip? The Whip is an all-electric low-speed vehicle that is made in California but based on a platform that comes from China's Shuanghuan Automobile. According to Wheego, about 100 people pre-ordered $18,995 not-so-Smart car before it became available this summer. For your $19k – minus a potential $7,500 from the federal government – you get a compact two-seater that "when it makes a donut, it doesn't even leave a hole," Korchin said. Above all, this is a city car. There is no tremendous get-up-and-go in the Whip, but it performs just fine in city traffic. Except for a long straightaway on the way back to the Civic Auditorium, we never felt out of sync with the speed of traffic. It's easy to imagine that most people will be able to make an NEV like the Wheego work just fine in day-to-day use, perhaps with a few adjustments to drive mostly in residential areas.

How does it drive? Getting in is easy enough, and the car clicks on without hassle. Drive direction is selected using a gearshift-like rod that offers drive, neutral and reverse settings. Moving from one to the other requires putting up on a collar ring and then moving the shifter. An LCD display on the dashboard lets the driver know which gear is selected. Yes, the NEV is silent and even in a parking lot full of people there just to learn about green cars we were worried no one would know we were coming. A CD of engine noises is available, but Korchin said most people just turn the radio up a bit to let people know the car is about to move.

Once on the go, the Wheego does have a very simple ecometer to provide feedback to the driver about how efficienently the driver is operating the vehicle. A series of five lights that run from green to yellow to red indicate how much energy it takes. We couldn't get the red lights to turn on, just the orange ones when we sped up to the Wheego's top speed of 25 mph. Standard eco-driving tips, like coasting up to red lights - Korchin says he keeps an eye on pedestrian signals to alert him to upcoming traffic light changes - can keep the eco meter in the green and extend the Wheego's 40-55-mile range.

For drivers worried about how many more miles are left in the pack, the analog state of charge energy meter on the left of the dash is incredibly accurate as to how much energy is in the pack, Korchin said, because it doesn't base its prediction on what the driver is doing at any given moment (i.e., if you're speeding up, it doesn't assume you'll be speeding up until the pack runs out). When it dips into the yellow or red, then you'll want to find a charge somewhere. To get from 20 percent up to 100 percent full takes about 10 hours using the Stage One Charging system, Wheego says (PDF spec sheet) and the Wheego does have a 220V quick charge option. The Wheego's warranty, which Korchin said was the best of any NEV he's ever sold, covers parts (including the batteries) for two years and labor for a year.

During the drive, regenerative braking does recapture some of the energy that was used to make the car go. The regen braking in the Wheego is incredibly soft, especially compared to the one-foot drivability of the Tesla Roadster. We were able to coast for a full block from over 20 mph and still needed to tap the brakes at the stop sign. The Roadster won't let you do that and we kind of like keeping out foot off the brakes. You can't get going any faster than 25 mph in the Whip, at least not in California, and pressing the brakes is somewhat heartbraking. There are nine states where NEV laws allow the Whip to top out at 35 mph, and Korchin did bring up the issue of changing California's laws to allow NEVs to go faster in the Golden State with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger when he stopped by the Wheego booth during AltCar 2009.

So, is this the "The Cadillac of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles"? It certainly has more car-like features than, say, a GEM (until the Peapod makes it big, maybe) but that bar is set pretty low. The car's iPod-ready stereo, power windows and mirrors are all nice touches. If you want to spend more than $18,995, air conditioning is a option, along with a spare tire carrier and "The Cadillac of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles" dual charging system. The air conditioning took a few minutes to kick in, but was plenty cool on a decently hot day in Santa Monica when it got going. The interior certainly doesn't have a Cadillac-level of luxury – there is cheap plastic everywhere – but Wheego didn't set out to make a Cadillac; just the NEV version.

There are sacrifices to be made with any NEV – no one will dispute that – but if you're willing to make them, the Wheego is a solid choice. Korchin said that people should evaluate their daily driving style and see if a zero-tailpipe-emission, 25 mph top speed vehicle is right for them. If so, we ask: why not go Wheego?


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Wheego unveils high-speed Whip

The one vehicle unveiled at the Washington Auto Show today was the Wheego Whip LiFe, an upgraded version of the company's neighborhood electric car that we took for a quick spin last fall. The high-speed LiFe – a clever name based on the car's 28 kWh lithium (Li) iron (Fe) phosphate battery pack – will come to market later this year at a very affordable price of under $35,000, and that's before any tax incentives, according to Wheego's vice president of marketing, Les Seagraves. Wheego has a 30-dealer network in the U.S., and the Wheego LiFe will be available there sometime this summer. The car has a top speed of 65 mph and a range of 100 miles.

Wheego is currently undergoing crash testing the lithium model, a project that required fundraising in the realm of $2.5 million (the money was also used for other thing). Virtual testing has been underway since October and has led to a few changes in the battery pack shape andvehicle structure. Two Whip LiFes will be built to be sent into the crash chamber, and two others will be made for the company to show off (the first was the vehicle displayed today).Speaking of this particular body style, regular readers will remember that the Whip is a modified Shuanghuan Noble. Seagraves said that the Wheego team in Atlanta has made "over 100" changes to the body and chassis and therefore "it's ours now."

Wheego's low-speed vehicle (LSV) Whip went on sale in October, and Seagraves said that around 200 units have been sold thus far. That car costs around $19,000. Further down the line, Wheego is looking at a full-speed four-seater, possibly some time in 2011.

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/01/26/dc-2010-wheego-unveils-high-speed-whip-looks-a-lot-like-the-ls/


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I Love It :)

wana go racing with it here in British columbia

That little thing weighs 3000 pounds!

I learned that from here: http://wheego.net/pdf/wheego_whip_brochure_2010.pdf

That's the downside of lead batteries. The advantage is supposed to be affordability, but $20,000 for a chinese-built small low-speed vehicle, that is not a good deal.

I'm sure the chinese can do better. And they will.

Are Wheego's modifications sufficient to avoid legal action by Daimler?

FRom what I understood, it depends of the country. I think this little car cannot be sold in Europe. Some italians tried and they stopped.

Wheego now accepting pre-orders for $32,995 LiFe electric car

PRESS RELEASE

WHEEGO NOW TAKING ELECTRIC CAR RESERVATIONS

ATLANTA (June 14, 2010) – WHEEGO ELECTRIC CARS today announced they are taking reservations for the all-electric Wheego Whip LiFe car on their website at www.wheego.net.

"We are on schedule to be the first company to offer an affordable all-electric car in the U.S.," announced Wheego CEO Mike McQuary. "Other auto companies have made announcements of the upcoming availability of their electric cars, but for the most part, their cars are being released in only a few cities, and in limited quantities. Our Wheego Whip LiFe will ship to customers first-come, first-served across the U.S. beginning in September, and everyone who makes a reservation will be driving their car before the end of the year. The Whip LiFe has a lithium battery pack, is made of 75% U.S. content, and is assembled in Ontario, California. It is an example of American ingenuity at its finest."

The highway-ready Wheego Whip LiFe goes approximately 100 miles on a charge, and retails for $32,995. The Wheego Whip LiFe qualifies for a $7,500 Federal tax credit, dropping the net price to under $26,000. States such as California and Georgia offer State tax credits or rebates up to $5,000 to further reduce the net price of the car. In addition, Congress has legislation pending that proposes an additional $2,000 electric vehicle incentive.

"We have had incredible interest in our Wheego Whip LiFe," said McQuary. "I think the public understands that the time has finally come to make electric vehicles a part of everyday life. The recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has certainly highlighted that it's time for a change. There are a lot of people talking about this problem, and now there is a chance to take action. A groundswell of public support for electric cars continues to grow. Once you have gone a few months without filling up your car at a gas station, you will be hooked on the idea of never doing it again. Americans are insistent on decreasing our dependence on foreign oil now; and on domestic oil, for that matter. You will recharge this car every night in your garage, and be good to go for 100 miles the next day: around the neighborhood, on the highway, everywhere you took your gas guzzler- except to the gas station."

The new Wheego Whip LiFe comes fully-equipped with driver and passenger airbags, anti-lock brakes, air conditioning, and power windows and locks. The 115V lithium battery pack can be charged from a standard 120V outlet, a 240V outlet or any of the J1772 standard charging stations. It is available in red, white, blue, black, silver, and green. The Wheego Whip LiFe is a two-seat subcompact car with fit, finish and features that compete with any other subcompact car on the market.

Drivers can reserve a Wheego LiFe by:

• Visiting www.wheego.net
• Making a fully refundable $100 down-payment
• Receiving a reservation number
• Providing contact information for follow-up by a registered Wheego dealer

About Wheego Electric Cars
Wheego Electric Cars is an innovation-driven and environmentally-conscious manufacturer of Electric Vehicles (EVs). Under the leadership of Mike McQuary, CEO and former MindSpring entrepreneur, Wheego Electric Cars has become a leader in the integration of advanced technology components. Wheego Electric Cars is one of the first EV companies to deliver affordable fully capable, street legal all-electric cars for everyday consumer use. The Wheego line of electric vehicles is emission-free, making them an ideal choice for consumers and businesses who want to reduce their carbon footprint. Wheego is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The cars are assembled in Ontario, California.

For more information about Wheego, and to view the list of Wheego dealers, visit the company website at www.wheego.net.

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/06/15/wheego-now-accepting-pre-orders-for-32-995-life-electric-car/

How can anyone think that this Tweego will sell for $32,995 when the Nissan Leaf is at $33,720?

Sorry, but the Nissan is hugely better in every respect. I'm pretty sure Nissan is loosing money at that price, but they're killing the competition.

......is made of 75% U.S. content, and is assembled in Ontario, California. It is an example of American ingenuity at its finest...

At 75% US content that doesn't leave much more than the Shuanghuan Noble shell made in China....

Will the Wheego qualify for President Obama's promised contract by which the feds purchase the first 100 units of EVs to hit the market?
Though Zap has signed on with Jonway recently, their shot at the prize is slim to none.