Green Automotive appears to be one step closer to being perhaps the first to market with an all-electric SUV in the United States.
When we last checked in on the Chinese-made Zotye SUV, the import company was looking for various dealers to carry the vehicle.
According to Green Automotive’s recent announcement, Roush Industries has been retained to provide testing and engineering feedback on how well the new all-electric vehicle meets federal motor vehicle safety standards.
It’s an important mile-marker on the road to approving the import and it would seem the process is already under way.
“Engineers from Roush have recently finished four days of initial inspections here in California, performing an engineering review of the All-Electric SUV,” said Fred Luke, President of Green Automotive.
“We intend to stay on track toward meeting our goal of launching retail sales of the All-Electric SUV in the U.S. through a network of selected dealerships by the end of this year.”
Green Automotive is in a tight race against AMP/GM’s revised, all-electric Equinox as well as a Tesla powered Toyota RAV4 EV to be first to the US market with an all electric SUV.
Preliminary numbers indicate that the Zotye will be considerably less expensive than the EV Equinox at a projected sale price of $35,995, vs. the $50,000 Equinox. Details on the RAV4 EV pricing remain unavailable.
