ZENN picks manufacturer for cityZENN highway-speed electric vehicle
How does this make sense: ZENN recently announced that company officials had selected a manufacturer to produce a highway-speed electric vehicle, called the cityZENN. Following this, ZENN's stock fell three percent. You'd think people would be happy with an announcement like that.
As always, there are problems and questions with ZENN's story. This is the much-hyped EESTOR vehicle, after all. While the announcement could be the big step towards ZENN's promise last year that they'd deliver an EESTOR-powered electric vehicle by Fall 2009 that the company needs to get out from under questions about the technology, investors must be waiting for more show, less tell. Another reason for the less-than-enthusiastic stock response is that ZENN didn't announce the name of the manufacturer, saying it would wait until the agreement is finalized. We recently got a few hints about the technology thanks to the EESTOR patent, but it looks like we'll have to keep waiting for the real deal.
[Source: Reuters]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jharlan 7:20PM (3/30/2009)
An Eestor powered electric vehicle by the fall of '09, really? Time really flies, huh, Zenn?
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Chris M 9:20PM (3/30/2009)
Considering that nobody outside of EEStor has ever seen an actual working model, nor have they ever been independently tested, I remain extremely skeptical.
If EEStor doesn't deliver (and that looks likely), then Zenn has three choices
1) come up with an excuse to delay the City Zenn, or
2) produce a more conventional battery powered City Zenn, or
3) admit it screwed up and go out of business.
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jpm 1:36AM (3/31/2009)
Considering they got duped so badly w/the EESTOR fantasy battery, option C is most appropriate.
ug 12:48PM (3/31/2009)
Zenn is done. They don't have time to wait around for EESTOR and they can't get the funding required to get a freeway-capable vehicle on the road. The only way they could go ahead is with some kind of cheap lithium conversion like BYD. That's not why people were interested in Zenn. Without EESTOR they are toast. Nobody wants a NEV with gas at $2 a gallon.
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Ted 8:11PM (3/31/2009)
Youre right ug, the EESTOR connection was the only reason i've been following Zenn's story.. now i'm just bored with the whole thing. Recent developments in Lithium tech have convinced me we will have 300 mile sub 30 min charge affordable vehicles sooner than we think.
I'll bet my house we'll see another christmas come & go without any physical products from EESTOR.
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Ernie 3:45PM (3/31/2009)
"Another reason for the less-than-enthusiastic stock response is that ZENN didn't announce the name of the manufacturer, saying it would wait until the agreement is finalized."
In other words, their investors could see right through their ploy to try to artificially boost their stock price (the most recent of many in the company's history), and responded appropriately.
"Waste of breath" is also a term appropriate for Zenn with respect to building a car capable of meeting safety standards. If they don't have a prototype that they can crash test by now, the likelihood of being able to produce one by this fall is pretty much zero.
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carolyn 3:18PM (4/26/2009)
I want to know a few answers that are noe being asked
what kind of batteries are zenn owners using now?
how long do they last, one year or more?
how many times can you charge them?
what is the replacement cost per batterie x 6?
if other cars have other batteries when are they replacing them and at what cost?
wile we all wait for the (glory batterie) to be invented by anyone how many of the manufactures are telling you their batterys story?
if a eestore batterie last the life of the car,does it cost he same as the car or more?
do the math a lithum ion batteris for a zenn is (said to ) cost 10,000 and regular batteries x6 is 600.00 or so per year then the life of the car is 16, years?
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