South Korea¡¯s electric vehicle-making startup Zein Motors has opened what would be the country¡¯s first electric truck factory with an annual capacity of about 3,000 units.
Zein Motors on Tuesday celebrated the opening of its new electric truck factory sitting on a land of 40,000 square meters in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province. The company expected it would churn out more than 3,000 units of electric truck annually at the factory with a floor space of 17,000 square meters.
Zein Motors is an auto-making unit established in 2016 under Korea¡¯s mid-sized auto parts supplier Dae-Il Corporation (DIC) based in Daegu. It has introduced a 1-ton battery-powered truck Calmato, which is a conversion of the Porter, a capover truck produced by Korea¡¯s top automaker Hyundai Motor.
The truck making startup has applied for electric vehicle certification for the Calmato to the country¡¯s transportation ministry aiming to embark on the mass production of the electric truck in the second half of this year.
The company¡¯s goal to become the country¡¯s major electric vehicle maker is well backed by the Daegu Metropolitan City government that has promised to invest 14 billion won ($13 million) over the next four years to help local companies focus on the development of next-generation vehicles such as EVs and autonomous cars.
¡°The city will keep up efforts to support the development and production of EVs, and Zein Motors` new factory will help Daegu become the country¡¯s top EV-making city,¡± said a city official.
By Woo Sung-deok and Lee Ha-yeon
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]