Wuling electric truck

The electric trucks made by Wuling's special vehicle operations team are being brought to the US by the trading company AmAsia International according Frank Chou, director of business development at AmAsia in Shanghai. Chou retired from GM China in 2006 after a 27 year career there.

Earlier this year, the first batch of 100 Wuling-made small electric trucks and vans were exported to the United States. They are eligible for use on roads there but restricted to speeds of 40 km per hour.

A new micro-car electric vehicle will be launched later this year, says Bill Fisher, CEO of AmAsia International Automotive LLC based in Florida.

AmAsia is working with Wuling Special Vehicle Operations on the modification of SGMW small trucks and vans, says Fisher. "They are removing the internal combustion engines and installing electric motors, controllers and battery packs to produce a plug-in vehicles that meet U.S. Federal Safety Standards as a Low Speed Vehicle," he says.

The LSV or low speed vehicle classification is a state- by-state regulation in the US whereby the crash test requirement is waived for vehicles under 3000 pounds, that travel below a speed limit, says Chou.

The vehicles are restricted to a maximum 25 MPH or 40KPH, says Fisher.

The electric trucks are being distributed in the US by ZAP and Green Go Tek, says Chou.

The trucks have conventional lead acid batteries made by German battery maker HOPPECKE Batterien GmbH & Co. KG. "For credibility we use a very reputable German company for the battery," says Chou. "It's a conventional car battery--12 volt car battery."

The truck's battery takes around 9 hours to charge, and can easily be plugged in to charge says Chou.

Whether the next step will be to use lithium ion batteries "depends on the economy," says Chou.

"The chassis is ex-SGM Wuling--other than the engine transmission, battery and control system motor everything else is still SGM-Wuling's product--that's an advantage," says Chou.

So brakes, chassis, steering, glass, tires, suspension and so forth are all SGM-Wuling and so are well tested and reliable, says Chou.

The truck uses an AC (alternating current) motor which is connected to the transmission instead of being connected to the engine as in a conventional vehicle.

"These trucks are simple vehicles for simple uses in vineyards, ranches, military bases or airports," says Chou. 

SMILE-E

The Smile-E micro car will begin its journey to the US towards the end of the year. "I would say toward October time frame, closer to the year end," says Chou. Wuling is currently building prototypes, he says.

The Smile-E vehicle is expected to be distributed in the US by two distributers: Green Go Tek and Rough & Tough Vehicles. The Smile-E micro-cars also use Hoppecke batteries that take 9 hours to fully charge.

The Smile-E is a neighbourhood electric vehicle (NEV) for use in gated communities and retirement areas like Florida, says Chou.

"The Smile-E is not like a golf car," says Chou. "It has very good handling, and is a fun drivable vehicle with a lot of innovation."