DaimlerChrysler to sell NEV’s

DaimlerChrysler Corporation has purchased the assets of North Dakota-based Global Electric MotorCars to become the first major automaker to sell the zero-emission Neighborhood Electric Vehicles in the U.S. The move should impact Canada with Transport Canada’s recent approval of road-licensable low speed electric vehicles for local and urban use. Global Electric, founded in 1997, produces more than 5000 vehicles a year, and will market product in the US through a wholly owned DaimlerChrysler subsidiary. The NEVs’ have a maximum speed of 40 km/h and are equipped with safety glass, windshield wiper, four-wheel hydraulic brakes, seat belts, headlights and turn signals. Batteries recharge in about eight hours from a 110-volt source. A battery-powered version of the firm’s Dodge Caravan minivan, the EPIC has been available in New York and California for three years.