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China, Israel: Making Electric Cars?
By Paul Midler | December 27, 2007
The definition of “global community”, according to Dave Barry, is any three nations that can build a decent car, plus, if he’s not off building houses somewhere, Jimmy Carter.
China’s political clout has never quite matched its car-making capabilities, that’s for sure. And another country that is lacking in the auto-producing capacity is Israel. Now, it seems, the two are getting together, and at least one news source seems to think this JV is about producing electric cars.
“Quantum, an American subsidiary of holding company Israel Corp., announced it was embarking on a joint venture with an unnamed Asian automaker, reported Detroit News. Israel Corp. has now won approval from China’s still heavily centralized government to set up shop in partnership with Chery Automobile. The Israeli partner will take a 45% stake in the venture, worth about $225m, with Chery presumably taking the other 55%. The news of the deal was announced shortly after reports of an ambitious plan to put 10,000 electric cars on Israeli roads by 2010.“
I have doubts about an electric world. One reason is that the oil companies have too much vested interest in keeping from the public any technology that might prove a substitute to petrochemicals. Hydrogen fuel cell technology showed great promise, until major auto companies bought into it. And now the tech languishes in “development”.
China is outside of the oil oligopoly, though, and as a resource-constrained economy it has a vested interest in finding alternatives to fossil fuels. Electric bikes are increasingly popular in the streets of China (well, in “flat” cities anyway), and China is already making small electric Disneyland-style cars that ride fast and smooth. If China can deliver a proper electric car where US auto makers fail, that would really be something. And if they could develop a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle before the West, well, then…
Topics: China |
December 27th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
China will develop these technologies and then the US companies are going to come in and acquire them anyway. If it comes down to money, that’s the way it will go. China could go “green” if it wanted to, but doesn’t care. Just cares about money.
December 28th, 2007 at 1:53 am
Would love to see it (electric tech) happen but I have the feeling that the SOE biggies (cars and oil) will end up behaving the Detroit/Texa biggies in keeping everything locked up in storage a la end of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.
December 28th, 2007 at 2:19 am
Hunxuer - I would love to see China make a challenge to Western “Big Oil” through domestic support of alternative fuels - i.e., electric, hydrogen. China may be alone in the world as capable of throwing off the balance of power?
December 29th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Wouldn’t happen Paul. You know the local mindset.
They will keep going the way of Detroit/Texas until doomsday…
January 20th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Martin,
You do realize that today the market cap of SAIC Motor alone is larger than those of GM and Ford combined, right? If xenophobia isn’t an issue, there will be a lot of cross-border M&A, but not at the direction you assume.