Yongche, Chery Automobile and Botai Group announced they have formed a joint venture to pioneer a key-free smart electric car model, “eChery” by iVokaOS, that will be available for car sharing through online bookings within two years.
Chery Automobile will take charge of R&D and manufacturing while Botai Group will develop the internet of vehicles and Yongche will setup the car-sharing platform. The Botai Group has been working on the internet for vehicles and unveiled its first Android-based mobile connectivity solution iVokal at the CTIA Wireless show.
The “eChery” by iVokaOS project will be activated this year and will be listed in 2016. The goal is to release 150,000 vehicles by 2018. The initial design will base on the QQ electric car model integrated with Botai’s internet for vehicle system.
Features of the “eChery” by iVokaOS
Yongche founder Hang Zhou said the eChery by iVokaOS meets his vision of the future automobile, combining the characteristics IT, driverless control, new energy and key-free starting.
The key-free feature of eChery by iVokaOS makes it ideal for car sharing as users can rent the car via the internet, with no purchasing required.
“The eChery by iVokaOS will be everything people imagine an internet car will be,” Mr. Zhou said. He vowed they will deliver a “computer on wheels” with Chery Automobile taking care of the manufacturing on the back of the vehicle internet technology pioneered by the Botai Group.
The eChery by iVokaOS is a completely gas-free electric car that can run for 200 km when fully charged.
Yongche’s aim to build auto-ecosystem
Yongche maintains the goal of setting up a car-sharing community and has already expanded its services beyond car hire. Mr. Zhou sees the future of the auto industry as a multi-dimensional ecosystem and is realizing his vision with the joint venture.
Yongche recently announced a car rental joint venture with Haier Financial to break through the bottleneck of the development for traditional car rental companies and develop new business and operational models by remodeling its mobile app technology and a commercial ecosystem.
Its recent activities make it obvious it intends to cover every sector of the auto industry by consolidating its link between car hire, rental and sale.(Translation by David)
