The WM Motors electric vehicle strategy is to build a range of
affordable mass market connected EVs. WM Motors founded in 2016 and not
to be confused with a USA company by the same name, is headquartered in
Shanghai with its assembly plant
in Oujiangkou District, Wenzhou City in Zhejiang Province. The 50,000
unit plant is to start operating in 2018 and is constructed on a
165-acre site and will scale to 100,000 units in 2022. Although WM
Motors, short for Weltmeister (World Champion) is German it is a 100% Chinese
owned company. Weltmeister’s Chinese name, Weima, has a different
meaning – powerful horse. The Chinese start-up was founded by Geely
executive in charge of Volvo in China, Freeman Shen who raised over $1
billion making it a Chinese Unicorn ( a term for start-ups with a value
of over $1 billion ). WM Motors plans to bring four models to life, all
based on a single platform, named PL2. No data has been released on the
platform but the company aims to build an SUV with a range of 450km at a
price of $30,000 (200,000 yuan). The Weima electric car strategy is
labeled “128”, which is based on a core architecture, building 2 vehicle
platforms and launching at least 8 EV models at a rate of more than one
new model each year.
Chinese EV manufacturer Weimar Automobile announced the completion of high-speed road tests of its L3 level autonomous drive system in Chengdu. The test vehicles were Weima EX5 EV SUVs. Weima will start producing EVs with L3 self-drive from 2020. The Weima Self-drive system is called “Living Pilot.” Currently, “Living Pilot” can fulfill various L2 driver-assist task’s such as: At CES Asia in June this year, Weima also released an ADAS function called Valet Parking. The Valet Park functionality allows for remote pick-up, park, low-speed autonomous drive, charging, etc. controlled from a mobile device.
Weima brought 4 EVs to this years Beijing Auto Show. The Weima EX5,
which saw the first production model last month, the EX6 Concept 6
seater SUV and two models from its design partner, Isdera, the Isdera
EX5 Pro and Commendatore GT.
Weima, also partly owned by Tencent, announced that the first production models of the Weima EX5 SUV
rolled off its production line. The order book for the EX5 is expected
to open during the Beijing Auto Show at the end of April 2018.
Last week Chinese WM Motors provided a sneak peek
of its first mass-market EV to be unveiled this week. CEO of WM Motors,
Freeman Shen, announced the creation of its EV specific brand
Weltmeister this week through the launch of the Weima EX5 SUV.
Weltmeister will produce 3 EVs from its 100,000 unit plant in Wenzhou.
The EX5 will be available from the H2 2018 and cost less than 300,000
yuan (ca $45k).
China Money Network reported that Freeman Shen, the former CEO of Volvo China and CEO of WM Motors
billed by US media as the Tesla Motors of China, announced this week
Baidu Capital led the investment in its $150 million round capital
raising. Baidu, the Google of China and investor in NextEV, created a $3
billion investment fund to invest exclusively in the fast-growing
electric vehicle market attractive at a time when the vehicle and the
internet are moving closer to each other. According to Jenny Wu,
managing partner of Baidu Capital “Baidu is dedicated to building
a new generation artificial intelligence open platform for autonomous
driving in China, while WM Motor is a leader in combining AI, hardware,
software and services in China.” WM Motors will unveil its first car affordable mass-market EV
with a range of 600 kilometers priced below $30,000 on the 11th of
December. Judging from the sneak peek the WM Motors EV will be loaded
with tech including facial recognition.
Weima Electric Vehicles
Weima Electric Car Strategy in the news
Week 31 2019 Weima ready for L3 self-driving in 2020
Week 17 2018 Weima showcases 4 EVs at the Beijing Auto Show
Week 14 2018 First Weima EX5 produced
Week 50 2017 WM Motors unveils its EV brand Weltmeister
Week 49 2017 WM Motors secures funding from BAIDU
Week 34 2017 WM Motors and German Isdera partners
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