Kandi Sells 3,000 EVs, Lifting Ride Share Development Program Off The Ground

Kandi Technologies Inc. KNDI announced in October the establishment of a ride share development program aimed at utilizing a fleet of 300,000 government-accredited pure electric vehicles.

What Happened: On Thursday, Kandi Technologies Group Inc. KNDI said in a press release that it had signed a contract to sell 3,000 of its electric K23 cars to Zhejiang Ruiheng Technology.

Zhejiang Ruiheng Technology, a ride-share operator partly owned by Kandi, will deploy the cars into the market.

Why It Matters: The ride sharing movement in China is on the rise and operators have incentives to use EVs in their programs. President Xi Jinping plans for net zero emissions by 2060, and to meet this goal, every vehicle in China would need to be electric by 2035.

Kandi’s K23 is a good fit for the ride share market, as is has proprietary battery feature that doesn’t require the car to sit idle to charge, according to the company. 

“Our specially designed battery swap model effectively avoids range anxiety by allowing EVs to swap batteries, thus avoiding lengthy recharging cycles. This extends the driving range and allows longer operating time, improving the efficiency of operators” Hu Xiaming, chairman and CEO of Kandi, said in a statement 

What’s Next: Similar to Lyft Inc. LYFT and Uber Technologies Inc. UBER in the U.S., Dida Chuxing and Didi Chuxing are competing to be Asia’s first IPO in the sector and more are sure to follow.

Kandi’s unique battery solution could make it a leader for ride share operators.

Hu believes the success of the K23 goes far beyond ride sharing, however. He stated in the press release, “we are confident that the sales of our K23 model will accelerate the growth of Kandi's whole EV value chain business."

Kandi shares were up 0.57% at $9.36 at last check.