Zap CEO talks and talks about Zap-X, Alias, Coke deal, and more
Zap's CEO Steve Schneider did a very interesting audio interview with CEONEWS.Tv recently where he talked about the Zap-X, the Zap-Coke deal and the future of the company. On Zap-X, Schneider says Chinese automaker Youngman owns 51 percent stake in the Detroit Electric joint venture, while Zap owns 49 percent in the company. Schneider explains Detroit Electric will sell higher speed electric vehicles while Zap continues to sell the lower speed vehicles. Schneider says the Youngman relationship is unique because, according to his understanding, there are only a handful of licenses given to Chinese companies to make cars inexpensively (Zap can sell buses for half the price, for example). On the release of the Zap-X, Schneider says it's a 36-month project but did not say when it started (it's been at least 14 months). Schneider did say the Alias is a 18-month project and they are six months into it. Remember that Zap has been talking about the Alias since June 2007, which was eight months ago.
On the recent deal with Coke (Coca-Cola is using thirty of Zap's compact trucks in Montevideo, Uruguay) Schneider says it was spawned from the UPS deal. Schneider explains the UPS deal came from one brave UPS rep that "risked his career" to use Zap trucks and a tractor trailers hub model. The hub model showed bottom line savings for the company and what do you think happened to that UPS rep? He was promoted to a much "larger capacity" position at the San Fran UPS branch! "Quite a few" companies (Schneider won't give out names) have contacted Zap, looking to repeat the model, since that brave UPS rep started the ball rolling.
Schneider also talked about a trip to Dubai and said the Middle East is more interested in electric cars than you might expect. Schneider was asked about the Daimler lawsuit and while he could did not say much, he did say Zap's lawyers tell him it should be settled in three months. Things are changing like the climate Schneider jokes and "the market is finally catching up (after 14 years) to what ZAP has been preaching." Schneider expects Zap to have 100 dealers by the end of this year, up from 56 at a recent meeting. AutoblogGreen is not a stock investing website but we have to admit we are really impressed by this interview and Zap's CEO Steve Schneider responses. He talks a good game, at least.
Gallery: Zap Coke truck
[Source: CEONEWS.Tv]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
armmat 4:24PM (3/17/2008)
Man...they seriously need to rethink what they make...totally unmarketable mass-market-wise. HOW HARD would it be to package their stuff into something that looks decent?
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Lascelles Linton 5:32PM (3/17/2008)
Armmat, Zap-X looks normal and the three wheel thing gives them advantages i.e no crash tests because it's rated as a bike. They are designing a speedy, good looking 3-wheeler called the Alias. It's probably the best a small company can do right now. Apter and Miles are doing similar things. One of these guys just might find the right combination and start something. GM or some other auto maker should get into the low speed, three wheel biz too. I expect if Zap starts to take off, they just might. A few more deals like the UPS and Coke deal would do it. Zap says it's their year, so I guess we will see. Gas prices are not going down...
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Kardax 6:06PM (3/17/2008)
Lascelles Linton: ZAP said it was "their year" last year--I think they called it "our year of execution", to be exact. They did nothing, apart from lots of press releases and some 3D art.
The photo on the right is ironic because the ZAPTRUCK isn't rated to carry that much weight...
Their middle east trip was mostly to get rich Arabs with more money than they no what to do with to invest in ZAP, rather than actual vehicle sales, as evidenced by a huge investment from Al Yousuf of Dubai. They issued new stock to do this, by the way, diluting the percentage owned by existing shareholders (and thus the size of any theoretical "payday" in the future).
Ironically, the high oil prices are probably hurting ZAP more than they want to admit because it increases the cost of production and shipping of their Xebras from China. They're late posting their financial results, so it's hard to be sure, but I'm expecting yet another big loss.
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GreyFlcn 6:26PM (3/17/2008)
Here's the Zap-X.
http://greyfalcon.net/electriccars.png
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Lascelles Linton 7:24PM (3/17/2008)
Kardax,
In the interview, they actually say last year was bad. Execution, maybe, but sounded more like repair. They moved plants, improved quality, and more was talked about. Also, the CEO says they are really the only electric car company and they are right, depending on how you define it.
I am not going to argue with you on the financial stuff, no small-cap stock is perfect but from the green car perspective, Zap does not look that bad to me. How many other companies own half of a company, that is 36 months away (+whatever regulation times) from a Lotus designed, Chinese made, four door, normal looking electric car? I can only think of Miles but they are private and not talking as much as this.
GM will basically validate the EV market with the Volt in 2011 and people (press included) will say, okay, what else is out there? And yes, the Xebra is not about to replace the family sedan but as UPS and Coke proves, it's finding a place.
Linton
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Kevin Nugent 7:48PM (3/17/2008)
I personally think that the zap-x is a great car and woudl love to see it actually deliver on all the specifications as said. It has a tremendous amount of horsepower 644 to be exact , getting extremely fast 0-60 times (under 6 secounds) but also having the range that an ev cars needs . To put this power in perspective you could mount all in wheel 141 horsepower motors to a 18 wheeler and have the same 40 ton towing capacity.! I am really excited about this car AND by specification 350 miles to an electric charge. Lets just say that the average zap-x will get 300 miles it is still a whole lot more than a Tesla roadster. . These are the cars that need to be talked about and by the way is alot less than the Tesla roadster. Not to mention the fact that this car can hold 7 people and has a top speed of 155. The ZAP-X will become the most advanced, most practical and most appealing ,electric vehicle to date and will revolutionize the industry providing the driver with the enjoyment of a sports car and the practicality of an SUV. All in all i hope they deliver verses all talk . (by the way it is faster than many 80,0000 dollar high end sports car porsche, ferrari etc)
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Chris M 12:37AM (3/18/2008)
Kevin Nugent: The "Zap-X" is vaporware, there isn't even a prototype made, or even an engineering mule. Those figures are what they hoped to achieve, and the real vehicle, if it ever gets built, might have quite different performance figures. It is highly unlikely that they could come anywhere close to that 300 mile range at the price they proposed, even with cheap Chinese labor.
The photos you see are of the Lotus APX gas engine prototype, which ZAP plans to use as the chassis design.
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Chris M2 9:05PM (3/29/2008)
The Zap-X was announced years ago and they haven't made a thing yet. In fact with all the announced vehicles ZAP has had they have only actually delivered 2. That and ZAPS questionable business practices make me not so confident in their "36" month plan. I wont be holding my breath to see anything from ZAP accept more disappointed investors in the near future. The claims of ZAP are all well and good, I'd love to believe them, but with the company's past record I don't think these claims are anything other than an attempt increase the value of the ludicrous amount of stock issues for this relatively tiny company. Sorry to burst anyones bubble, but if you ever do see the ZAP-X (thats a HUGE if) it wont be anywhere near the specs they advertised.
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Karkus 2:12PM (4/02/2008)
ZAP is a big scam, and YOU got fooled by their smooth talking execs and propaganda.
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/03/25/prospective-zap-dealer-chokes-on-electric-vapor/
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