China's Chery Automobile produces its first plug-in electric car

by Darren Murph

Clean automobiles are starting to hit the streets of China, and just a few short months after BYD rolled its first plug-in hybrid out of the factory, Chery Automobile has followed suit... sort of, anyway. Unlike BYD's alternative, the just announced S18 is purely electric, promising up to 150 kilometers on a single charge and a maximum speed of 120kph (around 72mph). The battery can be juiced from empty to full in around six hours using a standard 220-volt home outlet, while it can reach 80 percent capacity within just a half hour. Yuan Tao, vice president of Chery, confessed that the price would be "very suitable for families," though he held back from giving specifics -- you know, like an availability date, or a definite quantity of airbags.

Original here