Category Archives: Facilities

Stealth Manufacturing Moving To Georgia

Posted on by
Reply

Electric utility vehicle manufacturer Stealth Manufacturing is moving their plant from Louisiana to Georgia.  Stealth currently has about 50 employees at its 82,000-square-foot facility at the Ouachita Industrial Park.  The move is planned for June of this year.  Stealth produces the Apache, Patriot, and Predator electric UTVs.  Current owner, Greg Block, purchased the company in January from Louisiana based Bill Krutzer and Bill Robinson in January.  Learn more:  13WMAZ.com

Boulder Electric Vehicle To Begin Production

Posted on by
Reply
Boulder Electric Vehicle's Electric Truck

The aerodynamic electric truck from Boulder Electric Vehicle

With 25 orders of intent in hand Boulder Electric Vehicles is setting up a 60,000 square foot facility to produce their electric truck.  The all electric truck is targeted for the delivery market and can travel 120 miles before requiring an 8 hour recharge.  The vehicle currently costs $100,000.  Learn more:  Detnews.com

ZENN Stops Vehicle Production

Posted on by
Reply

As anticipated ZENN has stopped producing vehicles and will instead focus on developing electrical vehicle drivetrains based on EEStor’s technology. ZENN has the exclusive rights to use the EEStor technology in vehicles with a curb weight of up to 3000 pounds. There has been little news of late on the progress of EEstor’s ultracapacitor based power systems. – Marc Cesare Learn more: Treehugger.com

Smith Electric Vehicles US Developments

Posted on by
Reply

SEV-US recently announced that it made an offer to buy the Smith Electric Vehicles business from the UK based Tanfield Group.  The company has a four month exclusive window to come to agreement on the offer which is  reported to be $55 million.

In other developments the company is looking to establish a 50,000 square foot production and sales facility on the East Coast.  They are considering locations in New York, Atlanta and Washington D.C. as well as other areas.   The new facility  is part of  an overall plan to eventually open up to ten facilities in large urban markets starting with the East Coast.  Cities in other parts of the country being considered include San Diego, San Francisco and Chicago.

Management reports that their Kansas City facility is producing two vehicles per week and ramping up to four per week in the coming months.  They also expect the price of their Newton model to drop from $149,000 currently to $90,000 by 2011 as production increases. – Marc Cesare

Learn more:  Autobloggreen

Learn more:  Washington.bizjournals.com

Flight Systems Industrial Products Acquires Controls Business From GE

Posted on by
Reply

Flight Systems Industrial Products (FSIP) recently announced that they were acquiring certain product lines and equity interest related to a joint venture with GE.  The joint venture located in Patillas, Puerto Rico manufactures and distributes controls used in electric vehicles such as forklifts, neighborhood electric vehicles, golf carts, walkies, tuggers, go-carts and personnel carriers.   FSIP remanufactures over 45,000 controls annually for forklifts, aerial lifts, golf carts, scrubbers/sweepers, personnel carriers and mobility controls and has relationships with many OEMs.  Under the twelve year old joint venture arrangement FSIP had provided manufacturing and warranty services for GE.  – Marc Cesare

Learn more:  MHIA.org

Seoul Announces NEV Inititatives

Posted on by
Reply

Seoul, Korea announced plans to purchase 35 NEVs for fire departments and city parks this year, including using the vehicles to shuttle world leaders around for the G-20 summit.  Other initiatives to support NEV use includes:

  • Installation of public recharging stations which users can pay for with their public transportation cards
  • Tax benefits
  • Designation of Zero Emission Zones where the vehicles can be used

Learn more:  Koreatimes.co.kr

Charging Stations Gaining Momentum

Posted on by
Reply

Over the last year there have been a number of stories regarding the installation of charging stations. There seems to be an upward trend with regards to charging stations. One example of this is in Hawaii where Green Energy Outlet has just opened up a new charging station. Initially it will be free for electric vehicles such as electric bikes, mopeds, Segways and Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs). Later users will be able to pay by either waving a smart card (RFID) in front of the device, or by placing a Toll Free call to activate the charge. Learn more: Tradingmarkets.com

Another story tells about the Lehigh Valley Mall where three outlets are provided for use by hybrid electric vehicles. Learn more: MCall.com

UPDATE: Coulomb Technologies Installs Charging Stations in Washington: Coulomb Technologies recently announced the installation of their Chargepoint Networked Charging Station at a supermarket in Washington. Charging is free and hopes are that some of the approximately 1,000 plug-in electric vehicles in Washington, which includes conversions, plug-in hybrid conversions, neighborhood electric vehicles and electric motorbikes will be able to use the station. The close proximity of many electric vehicle owners and the fact that the many o the supermarkets customers shop multiple times per week factored into the location decision. Learn more: Newsblaze.com

Recent Company News

Posted on by
Reply

Navistar and Modec complete joint venture agreement – Navistar International and Modec completed their joint venture agreement for the production of Class 2c-3 commercial trucks. The all electric trucks will be produced in Elkhart, Indiana. In 2010 400 of the trucks are expected to be produced. Learn more: Tradingmarkets.com

Northwire introduces charging cable for electric vehicles – Northwire, Inc. announced the availability of CoilBoss Retractile Cords for use in electric and hybrid vehicles. All EV Cable options are available in standard or custom configurations. Customization includes hybrid designs, colors, private labeling and more. Learn more: Northwire.com

GM & SAIC Motor Corp pursuing venture – GM and SAIC Motor Corp, China’s largest automaker, are looking to create a joint venture to sell minivans, mini-trucks and mini cars in the Indian market.  It would be a 50-50 joint venture.  Learn more:  Wheels.unwireindia.com

Smith Electric Vehicles places battery order with Valence Technology – Smith Electric Vehicles placed a $1.4 million order with Valence Technology for batteries to be used in their Newton electric truck being produced in Kansas.  Learn more:  austin.bizjournals.com

Think thinking of Indiana for plant site – Think North America is in negotiations with officials from the state of Indiana and Elkhart County as it tries to decide on where to locate a manufacturing plant.  Besides Indiana, Oregona and Michigan have been on their short list.  Elkhart County is considering ten years of tax abatements to attract the company.  Learn more:  WSBT.com

E-Z-Go Wins IndustryWeek Best Plants Award

Posted on by
Reply

E-Z-Go’s Augusta, Georgia plant that produces golf cars and turf utility vehicles earned a 2009 IndustryWeek Best Plants Award.  Using a continuous improvement process management dramatically improved a number of operating benchmarks and even brought some parts manufacturing back in-house. Key improvements from 2005 to 2008 include:

Plant specific

  • 90% increase in plant-level profitability in past three years
  • Inventory turns improved by 30% between 2005 and 2008
  • More than 1 million hours without a lost-time injury using a behavior based safety program

Company wide

  • Increased profitability 200%
  • Cut its supplier base by 60%
  • Improved first-pass yield by 24%

One highlight for the plant was the introduction of E-Z-Go’s new AC drive golf car, the RXV.  The company used benchmarks from BMW, Harley-Davidson and Honda to build a new production line and then ramp up  to full production in only seven weeks.  Management makes several benchmarking trips to other companies during the year. Learn more:  IndustryWeek.com

Columbia Lands Another Government LSV Order

Posted on by
1

Columbia ParCar announced today that the company had been awarded an order for 192 vehicles by the US government.  This follows on the heels of a previous order for the US Army of 799 vehicles.  The vehicles for the latest order are destined for U.S. Air Force, Navy and Marine installations, as well as certain FAA installations, Kennedy Space Center and numerous National Parks.  The mix of LSVs include a four passenger vehicle for transporting personnel and a utility vehicle that can carry cargo and two passengers.  Both orders are required and expected to be fulfilled by March 2010.  The Army reports an annual energy savings of $740 for each vehicle compared to a gas powered car.  Learn more:  AMTOnline.com

Comment: I find two aspects of this order that are significant.  First, the speed with which the government has followed up on the previous order I believe is an indication that they are pleased with how well the vehicles fit their needs.  Second, that some of the vehicles are headed for other branches of the Armed Forces points to a much greater market potential.  The Army originally noted that beyond their initial plan for 4,000 vehicles they could envision ordering another 6,000 vehicles, and 10,000 vehicles each for the Navy and Air Force.  This order could be an early sign of those projections coming to fruition, and driving growth in the LSV market for a number of years. – Marc Cesare