Wanxiang Given OK For Karma Revero Production In China

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The Chinese firm behind the new, reworked version of the Fisker Automotive Karma (which is known as the Karma Revero), Wanxiang Group, has been granted approval by regulators in China to begin producing electric vehicles there, according to recent reports.

To explain that background a bit further for those not aware of the situation: Fisker Automotive went bankrupt, the Chinese auto parts supplier Wanxiang Group acquired the firm’s assets around 3 years ago, and it’s now working to release a modified version of the earlier Fisker Automotive offering. (Henrik Fisker has himself moved on, with other plans and a new company.)

Reuters provides more on the regulatory approval:

“According to a notice on Friday on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic and industrial planner, Wanxiang has the green light to build a factory with capacity to produce 50,000 electric cars a year. …

“Wanxiang, a Hangzhou-based company which in 2012 also acquired US lithium-ion battery maker A123, became the 6th company to be allowed to produce new-energy vehicles in China. More companies are currently being encouraged to enter the automotive industry in China but only if they are willing to produce so-called new-energy cars, mostly all-electric battery cars and heavily electrified plug-in hybrids.”

The reasons for this EV push by the Chinese government should be easy enough to guess. After all, the country has substantial air pollution problems. Another reason, though, that’s perhaps less obvious, is that as the electric vehicle and self-driving sectors are relatively new ones, it will be easier for the country to capture market share there than to compete against a century of accumulated experience in the internal combustion engine (ICE) segments. And, of course, the electric vehicle and autonomous driving tech sectors are expected to blow up over the coming years, so better to get in on the ground floor.


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James Ayre

James Ayre's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy.

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