Detroit Electric, Dongfang Motor agree to develop and make electric cars in China

Chinese automaker Dongfeng Motor Corp. and a Dutch-based company plan to co-operate in developing and making electric cars, the companies said Friday, as China pushes to expand use of alternative energy vehicles. Detroit Electric Holdings, a startup company that owns the electric drive technology to be used in the cars, plans to license it to Dongfeng for testing and use in its electric vehicles, Albert Lam, Detroit Electric’s chairman and CEO, said in an interview. Auto makers must innovate themselves out of their dependence on gasoline and diesel, and China seems committed to making the switch, Lam said. State-run Dongfeng, formerly the Second Automobile Works, is a partner of Japan’s Nissan Motor Co., and is based in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. The company is among many Chinese manufacturers moving quickly to develop electric vehicles for the fast-growing local market, with the encouragement of authorities who are keen to reduce automobile emissions and limit the country’s growing reliance on imported oil. The plan is to sell 45,000 of the vehicles across Europe, the United States and Asia by next year, increasing to 270,000 units by 2012. (June 19, 2009)