- Phoenix Motorcars
Infobox Company
company_name = Phoenix Motorcars
company_
company_type = Startup
foundation =2001
location =Ontario, California
industry = Automotive
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
parent =
subsid =
homepage = http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com
footnotes =Phoenix Motorcars is a California-based company that focuses on developing electric vehicles. At present, Phoenix partners with other corporations for development of key vehicle components, such as
AltairNano 's fast-chargelithium ion battery technology. The company also licenses electric motor technology from UQM Technologies. The car bodies are based on KoreanSsangYong Actyon . In January 2007, Altairnano acquired a 16.6% stake in Phoenix Motorcars in exchange for a 3-year exclusive agreement to provide their batteries for use in 4-wheeled vehicles. Altairnano will provide up to 500 battery packs in 2007. [ [http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/01/altairnano_clos.html Green Car Congress: AltairNano Closes Additional Order with Phoenix Motorcars; Enters into Exclusivity Agreement and Takes 16.6% Ownership ] ] At that time, Phoenix announced that it had 75 firm orders and anticipated producing 16 vehicles in February, although some of those would be used for federal compliance testing. [ [http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/news/2007/pr_011207b.html Phoenix Motorcars Takes First Fleet Pre-sales Orders for its All-Electric, Sports Utility Truck ] ] [ [http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/31/sema-ed-begley-jr-says-sema-can-help-with-electric-vehicles-i SEMA: Ed Begley Jr. says SEMA can help with electric vehicle's image problem - Autoblog ] ]Phoenix SUT
Phoenix has announced plans to introduce an all-electric vehicle
sports utility truck (SUT), for limited sale in 2007 [ [http://news.com.com/2100-11389_3-6139703.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news Revving up for the all-electric SUV | CNET News.com ] ] .In November 2007 Phoenix Motorcars announced that it was on the road to producing over 500 Phoenix Sport Utility Trucks (SUTs) featuring more compact packaging of the
Altairnano (NASDAQ|ALTI)Nanosafe battery than originally projected. With apeak power output of 200kW and low manufacturing cost process.Phoenix Motorcars has taken orders for fleet-ready vehicles for delivery beginning in early 2008 to
premier fleet companies.The Phoenix SUT is already available for limited sale as a
fleet vehicle .It is a four-passenger vehicles that features a 30-cell, 35kWh
NanoSafe battery pack (lithium titanate battery }, which is mounted in the front engine bay along with the electric motor, and can travel over mile|100 miles on a single 10-minute charge [http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/vehicles/phoenix-sut.php] .The SUT is currently anticipated to be priced at around $40,000.
Phoenix SUV
Phoenix SUV is sold as a
fleet vehicle . It is a the four-passenger electricSUV equipped with alithium titanate battery , that can travel atfreeway speed . Its range is mile|100 on a single 10-minute charge [http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/vehicles/phoenix-suv.php] .The SUV is currently anticipated to be priced at around $40,000.
Planned Vehicles
Plug-in hybrids
Phoenix has also announced plans to produce a plug-in series hybrid based on its existing vehicle platforms. [ [http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/04/26/phoenix-to-work-on-plug-in-series-hybrid/ Phoenix to work on plug-in series hybrid - AutoblogGreen ] ]
Production
Phoenix Motorcars in November 2007 has signed a Letter of Intent to produce electric cars in Puebla, Mexico.
They have entered their vehicles into the Progressive
Automotive X Prize competition. [ [http://www.progressiveautoxprize.org/ Progressive Automotive X PRIZE ] ]Controversy over business strategy
Phoenix pays a significant sum for the fast-charge AltairNano battery packs due to the limited volume with which the packs are currently manufactured (the packs are currently sold for as much as US$2.50 per watt-hour, versus US$1.00 for conventional lithium ion batteries). [ [http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/05/07/autobloggreen-qanda-altairnano-ceo-alan-gotcher/ AutoblogGreen Q&A: AltairNano CEO Alan Gotcher - AutoblogGreen ] ] In order to offset this cost, and to sell its vehicles at a reasonable price, Phoenix sells its own ZEV credits from the
California Air Resources Board . This has garnered some criticism, most notably from fellow EV-manufacturerTesla Motors . Tesla has also dismissed the relevance and usefulness of the Nanosafe cells, due to their cost and relatively low energy density. In response, Phoenix and AltairNano have acknowledged that this is not a sustainable business strategy, [ [http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/04/04/avfi-show-abg-video-of-the-phoenix-sut/ AVFI Show: ABG Video of the Phoenix SUT - AutoblogGreen ] ] but counter that the battery cost will decrease dramatically as production increases, thus eventually eliminating the need for selling ZEV credits. [http://www.evworld.com/evworld_audio/arb_altair5testimony.mp3]References
External links
* [http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com Official Website]
* [http://news.com.com/2100-11389_3-6139703.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news CNET - Revving up for the all-electric SUV]
* [http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/01/phoenix-motorcars-intros-a-truly-plug-and-play-car/ Engadget - Phoenix Motorcars intros a truly plug-and-play car]
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