At Auto China 2002, one of the main exhibits was a Toyota T-1. Lets take a closer look at it!
Continue reading “China Concept Cars: The 2002 Tianjin Toyota T-1”
Category: Toyota
The story of Thunder Sky (Part 2)
This is part 2 of the story of Thunder Sky and their experimental electric vehicles, part 1 can be found here. In my last article I introduced Thunder Sky and gave you an overview of their early history as well as details on their vehicles prior to 2007. In this article I will introduce you to the cars they made after 2007 and also go into detail on their interesting relationships with companies such as FAW, Krystal and MVP RV’s. I won’t go into detail on some of Thunder Sky’s other ventures but it would be an understatement to say that they’ve been involved in just about everything! Winston Chung has been recognized for his work by the United Nations and Thunder Sky donated 10 million dollars to University of California Riverside to establish a research center named ‘Winston Chung Global Energy Center’, produced LiYPO4 battery packs (using 1000AH battery cells) and also helped install the batteries in buildings. All very cool stuff but not really car related and so I won’t be covering it all in my article because it doesn’t really relate to vehicles. For more details please search on Thunder Sky’s website www.thundersky-winston.com.
A brief history of the National Electric Vehicle Experimental & Demonstration Area
The story of the National Electric Vehicle Experimental & Demonstration Area (henceforth referred to as NEVEDA) begins in 1995 after the Ministry of Science and Technology made the development of electric vehicles a priority in the 9th Five-Year Plan. Continue reading “A brief history of the National Electric Vehicle Experimental & Demonstration Area”
A brief history of Red Star Automotive
This article will be a first in a series of articles documenting the automotive history of the city of Xingtai in Hebei province. I recently travelled to Xingtai for a second time. I spent the day with a media friend I had met through Weibo after my last visit in 2017. He was kind enough to offer to take me around Xingtai to see some of the car factories that were once part of Xingtai’s industrial output. Upon arrival in Xingtai he told me we were off to a car factory that was very much still alive and well. That car factory is operated by Hongxing – aka Red Star.
Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong: Datong Saibeijian Auto Works
Today in Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong (CCPDoG™): Datong Saibeijian Auto Works, a company based in the great city of Datong in Shanxi Province. They made a series of their own cars under the Saibeijian (SBJ) brand name.
In addition to that they also ‘made’ at least three different cars for the infamous Guangdong scheme. Read all the details about it here. In short: Datong Saibeijian would lease their production license to a Guangdong-based company that would use it to ‘manufacture’ cars in Guangdong.
Continue reading “Crazy Car Production Days of Guangdong: Datong Saibeijian Auto Works”