Malcolm Bricklin, the man who has been talked about quite a bit on China Car Times, has done an interview with Business Week magazine regarding his plans to design, create, and manufacturer an electric car in China that can do 100-150mpg.
Personally, we just think he’s talking with BYD who showed an electric prototype vehicle at the Beijing Auto show last year - BYD is also a top maker of batteries in China, which compliments their car work quite nicely. Check out what they were offering in 2004:
We [BYD] have made a breakthrough in the quality and functions of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for electric cars; a maximum speed of 125 kilometre/hour could be realized and every recharge could support another 400-kilometre drive,” Chairman Wang Chuanfu said at a recent forum.
So, as far as electric cars go in China, BYD are leading the way and pounding the other car makers into the floor.
Heres the Bricklin Interview
Malcolm Bricklin is a name synonymous with entrepreneurial spirit, and abject failure in the auto world. It will come as no shock to anyone who has followed Bricklin with his ups (i.e. importing Subaru to the US) and the numerous downs (i.e. Importing the Yugo and The Bricklin car, falling out with Chery and throwing mud etc) that he has announced a new project: A car that will do between 100 and 150 miles to the gallon. I’m sure environmentalists and frugal people (China Car Times included) are rejoicing the world over at his news, but what exactly is it?
Bricklin is talking with 15 Chinese car companies with the plan of working together, i.e. he puts his crazyness down on paper and they make it for as cheap as possible. His goal is to have this in the US by 2009, having already delayed several times before we think a more practical goal would be 2012. Bricklin also stated that a working prototype would be ready within the next six months. Bricklin also went onto reveal that he still has more than $50 million that he raised from selling 27 Chery dealerships across the US, but had to return $200 million to investor George Soros after the Bricklin-Chery deal had collapsed.
Bricklin believes that the car he will bring to the US will use hybrid technology to gain such a high mile to the gallon. The car will use a new kind of battery pack that will be recharged by a small on board engine constantly running at a certain RPM - just enough to recharge the engine. He also went on to state that the proposed vehicle would be in the same class as the Mercedes E Class but retailing at between $15,000 to $25,000USD.
We’re a bit harsh on Mr. Bricklin, but we like him really.
We here at China Car Times like and actually admire Malcolm Bricklin, despite his crazy ideas, and the subsequent rate of failure when he carried them out we admire him for actually having the cajoles to carry out his ideas and for making a million bucks in the process.
For any readers who are not to sure to who exactly Malcolm Bricklin is, we’ve put together a time line
Click more to read more!
Continue reading ‘Who is this Malcolm Bricklin’
Malcom Brickin, the entrepenuer that originally planned to import Chery cars into the US before the plan broke down for unknown reasons was today quoted on the Edmunds News Website as saying
“The crux of our decision came from the realization that the Chinese need to learn that you cannot develop cars for the Chinese domestic market and then upgrade them for the North American market,” Bricklin said in a statement. “You must, instead, build for the North American market and then de-option for other markets, never having two standards for quality since great quality is the only option.”
Bricklin was previously stated in November 2006 via the Wall Street Journal that Chery could not build or engineer a car that was safe enough for the US market, fast forward to December 2006 Chery released crash test photos showing the Chery A5 in a head on collision scenario, Chery passed the test with full marks, proving that the Chery A5 is a safe car. So whats wrong with Mr. Bricklin, sour grapes? Perhaps.
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