Windrose plans to build electric trucks in the US and Europe
The manager discussed this in an interview with Reuters. He also said that Windrose would build the chassis and other components in Georgia, using parts manufactured in China. Each truck will have more than 700 kWh of battery capacity and offer a range of over 670 kilometres or 418 miles when fully loaded (total weight: 49 tonnes).
Windrose’s electric truck is thus clearly aimed at the market that Tesla, for example, also wants to serve with the Semi. By April, Tesla had only delivered 36 of the 100 vehicles for PepsiCo that were once promised for 2017. What’s more, with a purchase price of reportedly around 250,000 dollars, the Windrose is significantly cheaper.
According to Han, Windrose has already received orders for 6,400 vehicles, which will be built and delivered over the next three years. “The majority” of these orders are from US customers, but Han did not want to give an exact number – although he did not shy of giving a name. “Many of our clients are U.S. firms, for example, Nike… and we can serve them in their home market,” he told Reuters. “The US market is friendly towards Chinese heavy electric trucks based on the fact that the tariffs on imported trucks are much lower than those on cars.”
That is an important point: in the case of electric cars, the US government has created barriers to keep Chinese manufacturers out, i.e. by imposing special tariffs or local production quotas. However, the special tariffs do not apply to trucks, which is why Chinese companies can also build and sell at competitive prices in the US.
The situation is similar in Europe, where the EU imposes special tariffs of up to 37.6 per cent on electric cars from Chinese manufacturers. According to Han, this is a “justified move,” as the EU wants to establish a supply chain for electric vehicles in Europe, similar to what China has done in recent decades. Belgium is backing and introducing us to the region just like what Shanghai did for Tesla,” said the Windrose CEO. It could also help with the planned European expansion: Windrose’s battery suppliers CALB and Eve Energy are building cell factories in Europe.
The company does not have its own production facilities in China. Windrose Technology designs and develops its vehicles with a team of around 140 people, but they are manufactured under contract by Anhui Jianghuai Automobile and Higer Bus. The first batch of electric trucks is scheduled for delivery in China in August.
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