Green Daily

In a move that's got hipster t-shirt opportunity written all over it, US electric car company ZAP and Chinese automaker Youngman Automotive Group are teaming up in a joint venture to produce green vehicles under the 100 year old brand name Detroit Electric Cars.

Detroit Electric was a popular brand in the US from 1907 until 1939, when big oil really started to tighten their grip on the personal transport market. Name notwithstanding, the new company will be located in California, although it looks from the press release as if they might do the manufacturing in China. Cars and buses should start rolling off the assembly line under the Detroit Electic logo in 2009, including a version of the Zap Alias.

By the way, I highly recommend going to the Detroit Electric site and checking out the letter from "J.F. Hayden, Agent". Undated, but presumably from the early part of the 20th century, it demonstrates that Mr. Hayden's thinking was way ahead of his time, as he writes "You know the price of gasoline has doubled recently. Did you know that only 15% of the oil wells produce any gasoline at all, and that in a certain time the supply will be exhausted?"