General Motors (GM), formally the General Motors Company, is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. By sales, it was the largest automaker in the United States in 2022, and was the largest in the world for 77 years before losing the top spot to Toyota in 2008.
Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 million vehicles per year.
Magna International Inc. is a Canadian parts manufacturer for automakers. It is one of the largest companies in Canada and was recognized on the 2020 Forbes Global 2000. The company is the largest automobile parts manufacturer in North America by sales of original equipment parts; it has ranked consistently in the Fortune Global 500 list for 20 years in a row since 2001. It produces automotive systems, assemblies, modules, and components, which are supplied to General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, as well as BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen, Toyota, Tesla, and Tata Motors, among others.
Saab Automobile AB was a car manufacturer that was founded in Sweden in 1945 when its parent company, Saab AB, began a project to design a small automobile. The first production model, the Saab 92, was launched in 1949. In 1968 the parent company merged with Scania-Vabis, and ten years later the Saab 900 was launched, in time becoming Saab's best-selling model. In the mid-1980s the new Saab 9000 model also appeared.
A Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) is a U.S. category for battery electric vehicles that are usually built to have a top speed of 25 miles per hour (40 km/h), and have a maximum loaded weight of 3,000 lb (1,400 kg). Depending on the particular laws of the state, they are legally limited to roads with posted speed limits of 35 miles per hour (56 km/h) or less. NEVs fall under the United States Department of Transportation classification for low-speed vehicles. The non-electric version of the neighborhood electric vehicle is the motorized quadricycle.
Microcar is a French microcar manufacturer. The company was founded in 1984 as a division of Bénéteau group, a major sailboat manufacturer. Production moved to a new custom-built factory in September 2000. In September 2008, Microcar was acquired by Ligier Automobiles in a deal backed by the Italian private equity firm 21 Investimenti Partners. The merger created Europe's second-biggest manufacturer of microcars, and largest maker of quadricycles, or "sans permis" (license-exempt) vehicles. The Microcar and Ligier brands are to retain their separate identities and production facilities. Phillipe Ligier, son of company founder Guy Ligier, is CEO of the expanded Ligier Automobiles.
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd. (ZGH), commonly known as Geely, is a Chinese multinational automotive company headquartered in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. The company is privately held by Chinese billionaire entrepreneur Li Shufu. It was established in 1986 and entered the automotive industry in 1997 with its Geely Auto subsidiary. Geely Auto is currently the seventh largest automobile manufacturer in China, with 1.328 million sales in China in 2021. Globally, the group sold over 2.2 million cars in 2021, and over 17,926 plug-in electric vehicles in January 2022.
Global Electric Motorcars (GEM) is an American manufacturer in the low-speed vehicle category, producing neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) since 1998 and low-speed vehicles (LSVs) since 2001. It has sold more than 50,000 GEM battery-electric vehicles worldwide as of October 2015. GEM was formerly owned by Chrysler. It was purchased by Polaris Inc. in 2011, and became an owned subsidiary of Waev in January 2022.
Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD), also known as Toyota Hybrid System II, is the brand name of Toyota Motor Corporation for the hybrid car drive train technology used in vehicles with the Toyota and Lexus marques. First introduced on the Prius, the technology is an option on several other Toyota and Lexus vehicles and has been adapted for the electric drive system of the hydrogen-powered Mirai, and for a plug-in hybrid version of the Prius. Previously, Toyota also licensed its HSD technology to Nissan for use in its Nissan Altima Hybrid. Its parts supplier Aisin Seiki Co. offers similar hybrid transmissions to other car companies.
Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) was an American photovoltaics manufacturer of thin-film solar cells made of amorphous silicon used in flexible laminates and in building-integrated photovoltaics. The company was also a manufacturer of rechargeable batteries and other renewable energy related products. ECD was headquartered in Rochester Hills, Michigan.
ZENN is a two-seat battery electric vehicle that was produced by the ZENN Motor Company of Canada from 2006 to 2010, designed to qualify as a neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV). It had a range of up to 40 mi (64 km) and was speed-limited to 25 mph (40 km/h). On earlier production models, there was an option of a 'Discovery Pack' which increased the ZENN's range a few miles. In later models it was standard.
FuelPositive Corporation is a company based in Cedar Park, Texas, United States that claims to have developed a solid state polymer capacitor for electricity storage. The company claims the device stores more energy than lithium-ion batteries at a lower cost than lead-acid batteries used in gasoline-powered cars. Such a device would revolutionize the electric car industry. Many experts believe these claims are not realistic and EEStor has yet to publicly demonstrate these claims. The corporate slogan is "Energy Everywhere".
A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that exclusively uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, with no secondary source of propulsion. BEVs use electric motors and motor controllers instead of internal combustion engines (ICEs) for propulsion. They derive all power from battery packs and thus have no internal combustion engine, fuel cell, or fuel tank. BEVs include – but are not limited to – motorcycles, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, railcars, watercraft, forklifts, buses, trucks, and cars.
A plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) is any road vehicle that can utilize an external source of electricity to store electrical energy within its onboard rechargeable battery packs, to power an electric motor and help propelling the wheels. PEV is a subset of electric vehicles, and includes all-electric/battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Sales of the first series production plug-in electric vehicles began in December 2008 with the introduction of the plug-in hybrid BYD F3DM, and then with the all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV in July 2009, but global retail sales only gained traction after the introduction of the mass production all-electric Nissan Leaf and the plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volt in December 2010.
NEVS AB was a Swedish electric car manufacturer which acquired the assets of Saab Automobile from a bankruptcy estate in 2012. NEVS was the trademark of the company's products including the first electric vehicle based on the 9-3 platform which was to start in 2017. The company was closed in March 2023, with Polestar interested in buying the former Trollhättan factory.
Kandi Technologies Group, Inc. is a Chinese battery and electric vehicle manufacturer. Kandi is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange with ticker KNDI. It was founded in 2002 in Jinhua, Zhejiang by Hu Xiaoming.
Karma Automotive is a Chinese-owned American producer of luxury electric vehicles founded in 2014. Headquartered in Irvine, California, United States with an assembly plant located in Moreno Valley, Karma sells vehicles via its dealer network of locations in North America, Europe, South America, and the Middle East.
Workhorse Group Incorporated, originally AMP Electric Vehicles, is an original equipment manufacturer and technology company headquartered in Sharonville, Ohio, U.S. Workhorse makes electric delivery vans, drones, and telematics software designed for last-mile delivery. Their products include commercial electric vehicles, Horsefly delivery drones, and a Metron telematics software system.
Seres Group (赛力斯集团股份有限公司) is a Chinese company founded in September 1986 with headquarters in Chongqing, China. Born as a manufacturer of components for household appliances and shock absorbers, it currently produces cars, motorcycles and commercial vehicles as well as shock absorbers and internal combustion engines. In 2022, the company renamed to Seres Group from Sokon Group.
Sono Motors GmbH is a German company working on the development of the electric solar car Sono Sion. A special feature of the vehicle designed by the company is solar cells embedded in the plastic body panels on both the roof and the sides. The electricity generated is fed into the traction battery and is said to be sufficient as an energy source for more than 5,000 kilometers per year. Sono Motors has been licensing this technology for use in buses and trucks since 2021.
