By reporter Liu, Xiao Ping, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily

US/China Energy & Environmental Technology Center (EETC)’s Shanghai office was officially opened yesterday. More than a hundred guests from U.S. and China governments, universities, research institutes, and private companies participated in this event. They also test drove and rode the zinc-air fuel cell powered electric car, electric motorcycle, electric scooter, and electric bicycle developed by Powerzinc Electric (Shanghai), Inc. and Zhejiang University.

Due to the rising environmental problems and worsening oil crisis, electric vehicle is considered as the future of transportation. Developing electric vehicles has become a strategy for many countries to ensure sustainable growth. Lawmakers have undertaken supportive measures and offered incentives to promote EVs. Major automakers have also invested a large amount of resources in EV development. Although electric vehicle development has 60 years history, lacking of qualified, commercially viable battery technologies restrained the growth of this industry.

With extraordinary vision, Powerzinc Electric, Inc., a company based in Los Angeles, conducted extensive studies on various types of battery technologies and believe that zinc-air fuel cell is the most viable technology for near-term commercialization. The company started an R&D program in 1995. Within only 4 years, they made significant breakthrough in zinc air fuel cell technology and successfully solved the bottleneck of battery technologies. The technology has demonstrated great potential to meet the requirements for electric vehicle propulsion. The company’s innovative business model for fuel cell service network can make refuel at retail locations as easy as pumping gas at a gas station. Zinc-air fuel cell is an environment-friendly power source that offers high energy, high power, low cost, for EV applications or anyplace that need high capacity mobile power supply. Huge market potential and low labor cost in China have prompted the Company to establish Powerzinc Electric (Shanghai), Inc. Since 1999, the company has successfully set up the world’s first zinc-air fuel cell manufacturing facility in Shanghai and it is currently in the process of establishing refuel service network. They started fuel cell distribution in February 2002. EETC is a non-profit organization funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and industry partners. EETC’s mission is to promote the efficient, responsible production and utilization of clean energy, and to encourage environmental performance, while improving the quality of life in U.S. and China. The alliance was formed in March 2003 and it aims to promote clean, environmentally friendly zinc-air fuel cell technology in both U.S. and China. An immediate goal is to demonstrate Powerzinc’s products as the most practical, near term fuel cell technology for electric vehicles in the world.

An unprecedented opportunity for zinc-air fuel cell products lies just ahead. With Beijing committing to a green Olympic Games in 2008 and Shanghai being granted the World Expo 2010, clean energy vehicles are in great demand.