China-based Kandi Technologies Corp. designs and manufactures all terrain recreational vehicles (ATVs), including its battery powered, two-seater low-speed vehicle, COCO. The company today announced the sale of 30 modified, electric COCO hardtops to the Postal Service in Jihua City. This is Kandi’s first sale of its COCO super mini car in China, and represents a strategic sale that will generate a visible on-road presence for the company’s clean vehicles.
“This is a milestone event for Kandi,” Xiaoming Hu, Kandi’s chairman and CEO stated in the press release. “Representing the start of what we see could be a significant ramping up of COCO electric car sales in China to the Postal Service nationwide. They, as well as other public services, such as sanitation and taxis, are being strongly encouraged by government programs to update their fleets to reduce oil and gas consumption and help clean up the environment.”
Kandi modified the COCO to fit the Postal Services needs, altering the interior of the vehicle by giving it a larger trunk and taking out the passenger seat to allow for more space. Under the hood, the vehicle remains the same – running on two 12-volt batteries that are fully rechargeable in six hours. The vehicles can travel up to 80 miles at up to 25 miles per hour.
Kandi said it estimates that more than 300,000 of China Postal Service vehicles are “outdated” gas-powered small trucks and bicycles. As the Chinese government looks for opportunities to clean up the air, it is creating eligibility for those vehicles to be replaced by new energy efficient vehicles, such as Kandi’s COCO.
“We are actively pursuing Postal Service sales with a particular focus initially in our home province of Zhejiang and neighboring cities where we believe we have a leg up on potential competition,” Hu stated. “In any case, the very substantial national public service opportunity provides lots of room for growth for Kandi as well as other potential manufacturers of electric or other alternative fuel cars.”
China’s Postal Service bought the COCOs at 51,800 RMB (US$7,587.63) per vehicle.
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