Wheego Whip May 2009 Arrival Forecast

The first cars imported from China will not be from Chery Automotive or BYD after all. Both companies have expressed interested in bringing their cars to the states, but it looks like a tiny maker of pure electric cars will beat them to the punch.

Shuanghuan Automobile Company is the producer of an electric vehicle, one that will be imported to the US and sold as the Wheego Whip. Last November RTEV (Ruff & Tuff Electric Vehicles) inked an agreement with Shuanghuan, giving the American company exclusive rights to market the car stateside. The Whip is expected to go on sale as soon as May 2009, pending the putting together of a dealer network.

According to RTEV, the car is capable of reaching speeds of 60 mph, but it will be sold to different countries specifically designed to meet that country's safety requirements. In the US, that means it will be launched as a Low Speed Vehicle (LSV- 25 mph max) or Medium Speed Vehicle (MSV- 35 mph max) depending on local state regulations, until it passes U.S. Department of Transportation safety crash requirements, which is expected sometime in early 2010.

Although the Wheego Whip will be based on the existing Shuanghuan Noble platform, it will go through final assembly, including the motor, drive train, controller, electronic components and be programmed in America. The cars will have environmentally friendly dry cell sealed (AGM) batteries, which require no maintenance and feature an onboard high tech charger. The car will travel 50 miles on a single charge—and plug in for a recharge on any standard household 110 or 220 volt electrical outlet.

The retail price of the Whip should hold to its $19,000 estimate when the car goes on sale this Spring. Although it is roughly the size of the Smart ForTwo, the Whip is priced at or just below leading hybrid models including the Toyota Prius and Honda Insight. Those cars still must rely on gas power when their batteries are no longer functioning while the Whip runs on pure electric power.