Miles Electric Vehicles was a manufacturer and distributor of

all-electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes ch ...

s manufactured by

FAW Tianjin Tianjin FAW (officially Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile Co., Ltd.) is an automobile company based in Tianjin, China and a subsidiary of FAW Group. Its principal activity is the design, development, manufacture and distribution of automobiles sold u ...

in China that met international

car safety Automotive safety is the study and practice of design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadway design. ...

standards. Miles was given the "Electric Car Company of 2007" award by Good Clean Tech. The company filed for bankruptcy on June 11, 2013.

History

Miles Electric Vehicles was based in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

, with several facilities throughout the United States. It was privately held by "Green" magnate Miles Rubin. The company gained prominence in 2005 when it began sales of the ZX40, the first street-legal Chinese-made automobile sold in the United States. The company's vehicles, built on steel

unibody A vehicle frame, also historically known as its ''chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car had ...

chassis, are the world's first

crash test A crash test is a form of destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in crashworthiness and crash compatibility for various modes of transportation (see automobile safety) or related systems and comp ...

NEVs NEVS AB (an abbreviated form of "National Electric Vehicle Sweden") is a Swedish electric car manufacturer which acquired the assets of Saab Automobile from a bankruptcy estate in 2012. NEVS is the trademark of the company's products including ...

that achieved

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States an ...

(DOT),

California Air Resources Board The California Air Resources Board (CARB or ARB) is the "clean air agency" of the government of California. Established in 1967 when then-governor Ronald Reagan signed the Mulford-Carrell Act, combining the Bureau of Air Sanitation and the Mot ...

and

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" rel ...

(NHTSA) compliance. The company offered four electric vehicles that were designed primarily for low-speed fleet use, the ZX40, ZX40S, ZX40S Advanced Design, and ZX40ST electric truck. These were available in the United States and were used by organizations such as NASA, the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universit ...

, Stanford University,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (California Polytechnic State University, Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt in Arcata, California or California State Polytechnic Univ ...

, the San Francisco Airport Authority, Bennington College and Provo, Utah. All Miles Electric Vehicles were DOT/NHTSA Federal Standard 500 compliant, offering steel chassis, steel impact-resistant frame, steel doors and DOT-approved glass throughout. NHTSA/FMVSS Standard 500 law requires all low-speed vehicles (LSV) be electronically limited to , and are street legal for use on roads with posted speed limits up to . Miles electric vehicles use wet cell lead acid deep cycle batteries weighing 100.5 pounds each. These are similar to the batteries found in older forklifts and vintage electric golf carts.

AC motors

For the 2008 model year, Miles introduced AC (

alternating current Alternating current (AC) is an electric current which periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time in contrast to direct current (DC) which flows only in one direction. Alternating current is the form in which ...

) motors for its low-speed vehicles. The three phase, brushless AC induction motor offers four times the available power of typical DC motors, and has a 100,000+ mile estimated lifetime (yet to be warranted by the company). The AC motors are paired to Curtis-Albright AC Motor Controllers and optimized for hill climbing performance. Miles had produced an "Advanced Design" version of its flagship LSV, the ''ZX40S Advanced Design'' to use the motor, as well as using the motor in all versions of its ''ZX40ST work truck''. Along with the AC motor upgrade, these two models come with regenerative braking and vacuum assisted braking pumps. Due to the increase in available power from the AC motor, the two vehicles also offer air conditioning and heat as an option.

Models

ZX40ST Electric Truck

The most powerful "fleet" electric utility truck on the market debuted at FedFleet '07 in Orlando in the summer of 2007. It is a version of the Hafei Minyi Pick-up. The truck is governed to a maximum speed of an hour and was claimed to travel 50–60 miles per charge. Like the ZX40S Advanced Design, this truck also uses an advanced three phase, brushless, AC induction motor, which comes standard with regenerative braking and optional air conditioning. MSRP $19,900. Sealed electrical connections, splash guards and weatherproof motors were options to add on. Daily users and independent tests found the actual vehicle range to be 21 to 24 miles per charge.

ZX40

The Miles Electric Vehicles ZX40 is a

subcompact Subcompact car is a North American classification for cars smaller than a compact car. It is broadly equivalent to the B-segment (Europe), supermini (Great Britain) or A0-class (China) classifications. According to the U.S. Environmental Pro ...

electric car An electric car, battery electric car, or all-electric car is an automobile that is propelled by one or more electric motors, using only energy stored in batteries. Compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, electric cars are quiet ...

built by

(Tianjin-Qingyuan Electric Vehicle Co), a subsidiary of the

First Automobile Works China FAW Group Corp., Ltd. (First Automobile Works) is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Changchun, Jilin.

in Tianjin, China. The car is a licensed version of the Japanese

Daihatsu Move , commonly known as Daihatsu, is a Japanese automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest surviving Japanese internal combustion engine manufacturers. The company's headquarters are located in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture. Historically, Daihatsu was ...

minicompact and is sold in China as the

Huali Happy Messenger The Huali Happy Messenger is a city car manufactured by the Chinese automaker Huali from 2003 to 2008 and from 2006 to 2013 for American market electric vehicles startup Miles Electric Vehicle. Overview The Huali Happy Messenger was manufactu ...

. Miles took vehicles without drivetrains and added the motor and electrical components. It is powered by a single 48-volt electric motor, which produces and uses a 150-

amp-hour An ampere hour or amp hour (symbol: A⋅h or A h; often simplified as Ah) is a unit of electric charge, having dimensions of electric current multiplied by time, equal to the charge transferred by a steady current of one ampere flowing for on ...

battery pack A battery pack is a set of any number of (preferably) identical batteries or individual battery cells. They may be configured in a series, parallel or a mixture of both to deliver the desired voltage, capacity, or power density. The term battery ...

. The car uses an on-board charger that charges through a standard 120-volt outlet. An empty battery fully charges in twelve hours, but only four to six hours are needed to charge it fully if the car is less than 80% empty. The ZX40 was claimed to travel up to at speeds limited to . It is a 2- or 4-seat car and is DOT-approved for street use. The ZX40 was discontinued for the 2008 model year, in favor of the more powerful ZX40S and AC Motor-powered ZX40S Advanced Design.

ZX40S

The ZX40S is designed to accelerate faster than the ZX40. It is powered by a 72-volt system instead of a 48-volt system, which extends its claimed range to 50–60 miles (80–96 km). To comply with federal law, the ZX40S is also electronically speed-limited to like the ZX40 (except in certain states where electric vehicles which meet federal safety standards are allowed to operate up to 35 mph (56 km/h) as Medium Speed Electric Vehicles). The ZX40 and ZX40S are classified as "

low-speed vehicles In the United States and Canada, low-speed vehicle (LSV) regulations allow relaxed design and registration laws for four-wheel vehicles that have a maximum capable speed of about . Several other countries have similar regulations. Canada Under ...

", meaning they have fewer regulations to comply with. Such vehicles must include standard lighting and seatbelts, but do not require passive restraints, typically airbags in higher-speed vehicles. The vehicles should not exceed 25 mph (40 km/h) on streets with posted speed limits of or less. These vehicles also fall under the Washington State speed exemption cited above and may be operated up to 35 mph (56 km/h).

ZX40S Advanced Design

This vehicle uses the same body as the two above models, but uses an AC induction motor that was said to offer greater power and torque, extended lifetime, and regenerative braking.

OR70

Miles Electric Vehicles also made the OR70, a variant of which travels above 35 mph (56 km/h), but it is not legal on public roads. NASA employed this model as their campuses are exempt from this particular law. Due to consistently poor performance the company had reported the suspension of OR70 model production from the 2008 model year onwards.

Bankruptcy

On June 11, 2013, the company declared bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware. It listed estimated assets in the range of $10 million to $50 million, and estimated liabilities of between $50 million and $100 million. This has left current users without a dealer network, technical support or a parts source. Many fleet operators are forced to

cannibalize Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...

some of their vehicles in order to keep others on the road.

References

External links

*{{Cite web , url=https://www.evindias.com/ , Electric Vehicles , access-date=2022-12-02, * Hero Vida electric scooter {{automotive industry in the United States Battery electric vehicle manufacturers Car manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in California Electric vehicle manufacturers of the United States