China Dynamics in electric-car battery push after name change
Former metals trader shifts its focus to the electric-vehicle market after name change
China Dynamics (Holdings), formerly Sinocop Resources (Holdings), will put all its resources into developing batteries for new-energy cars, said chairman Cheung Ngan.
The company changed its name last month to "better reflect future expansion", Cheung said. The company used to be focused on metals and mineral trading.
"We are proactively seeking business opportunities to tap the enormous potential of the electric-vehicle market," Cheung said.
He said China Dynamics was in contact with a number of local governments on the mainland, where the authorities are pinning their hopes on new-energy cars to tackle the country's notorious air pollution.
Beijing has set a sales target of 500,000 units for new-energy cars - all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles - by next year and 5 million units by 2020.
Last year, about 17,000 new-energy vehicles were sold on the mainland, an increase of 40 per cent from the previous year. However, it is still 0.1 per cent of the country's total car sales.
China Dynamics was in talks with local governments, including those in Zhejiang and Heilongjiang provinces, to develop new-energy cars, Cheung said.
"Our battery has an advantage over the regular liquid lithium battery, which cannot work properly in northeast China's cold weather," he said.
Cheung said the company had entered into a non-legally binding agreement with Rimac Automobili for a possible acquisition of 10 per cent of the Croatian carmaker's enlarged share capital.
Yesterday, Rimac launched its two-seater electric sports car in Hong Kong called Rimac Concept_One. China Dynamics said it planned to equip the next generation of Rimac electric racing cars with its batteries.
This is the first time Rimac Concept_One has been launched in Asia, with a limited edition of only eight units worldwide. It is priced from US$1 million.
The electric vehicle can accelerate from zero to 97 km/h in 2.8 seconds. Rimac said it was the world's fastest-accelerating electric vehicle last year.
Cheung said China Dynamics' battery would shorten the start-up time by 0.3 second because it was lighter than the battery Concept_One currently used. The vehicle has an electronically limited top speed of 304 hk/h.
