2050 Motors to showcase China-built CFRP-bodied e-GO EV, Ibis to follow

2050 Motors Inc. (North Las Vegas, NV, US) announced on Nov. 15, 2015 that the first off-the-assembly-line carbon- fiber-bodied e-Go Electric EVs (electric vehicles) to enter the Western Hemisphere had arrived in the US the previous week. The company indicated the e-Go would be followed shortly by a “big brother,” the Ibis (pronounced ee-bis), a full-size, all-carbon-fiber body luxury sedan, with exterior styling that reportedly rivals the best European high-end sedans. Both EVs are to be showcased in Las Vegas to a private industry audience and then, at some point, opened to the general public for viewing. The e-Go vehicles also will undergo crash-testing in the US.

Its lightweight carbon fiber body and all-aluminum frame, 2050 Motors claims, makes the e-Go the world’s most efficient automobile. Weighing less than 680 kg, including its battery pack, it is reportedly half the weight of most electric car competitors, including the BMW i3, and one- third the weight of the Tesla Model S. Further, the e-Go is intended for the mass consumer market in the US$32,000 to US$35,000 MSRP range, depending on options and before state and federal rebates and tax incentives.

“We expect the e-Go to be significant competition for the much higher weight vehicles produced by General Motors, Nissan and, eventually, the Tesla Model 3, which is expected to be unveiled to the general public by 2016,” says Michael Hu, president of 2050 Motors. Both vehicles, the company claims, will carry impressive warranty items, including a 10-year (unlimited mileage) warranty on their lithium battery packs.

2050 Motors was founded in 2012 to import and market electric- and gas-powered carbon-fiber intensive vehicles engineered and designed in Italy and built in China. The e-Go is built by Jiangsu Aoxin New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. (Jiangsu, China) at a plant capable of producing 20,000 units annually. The 18,580m² automobile plant was reportedly constructed in 120 days, and is said to be China’s largest-volume CFRP car manufacturing facility. Further, it has China’s first electric car aluminum chassis robotic weld- ing production line and houses China’s first high-tempera- ture, high-pressure, vacuum-assisted carbon fiber composite molding production line. Aoxin also is constructing a larger carbon fiber/aluminum chassis manufacturing plant for the Ibis EV, capable of producing 100,000 cars per year.

“Earlier this year, both the e-Go EV and the Ibis received rave reviews when they revealed the manufacturing facili- ties for the e-Go EV to a Chinese audience,” says Hu. “The ... unveiling was covered by national TV news media and many publications. We are excited to make our entrance into the American market, and anticipate another successful event.”

Aoxin reportedly has collected more than 20 of China’s State Intellectual Property Office patents — among them, 11 invention patents — and has more than 20 other patents in the applications process.