All ZAP does is make announcements and issue stock. They're an interesting study in how long a company can survive this way. A consequence of this business strategy is that their financial condition is horrific. As a publicly traded company, you can see this yourself (ticker symbol is ZAAP--look at their balance sheets and financial history, not their stock price). Every quarter they need to trick banks and investors into giving them money in order to stay in business. ZAP survives by being like a religion. Keep the faith, spread the word, give us your offerings, and come back next week to hear more good news and give us more money. -Ryan / Kardax
At the moment they have shipped more vehicles than Tesla, so we might want to watch where we point fingers. Time will tell... Buyer beware.
Zap has shipped -zero- vehicles that have passed a crash test. At best, you could say they're on an even playing field with Phoenix and Tesla. Time will tell, of course, but history tells, too. And history says the bigger the Zap announcement, the less likely it is to be true. I am perfectly comfortable where I'm "pointing my fingers" -Ryan / Kardax
Crash test or not, they do have a record of shipping products. Back in 1998 they announced shipment of 15,000+ Electric Bikes Zap sells 100s of Zebras "ZAP has been a leader in advanced transportation technologies since 1994, delivering over 90,000 vehicles to consumers in more than 75 countries. " I don't necessarily stand behind them, but I do see that they have been in business for a while, and their products have been selling (in some numbers).
The biggest dissapointment, for me personnaly regarding ZAP, is that even when they posted that they were taking reservations for purchase of their recently announced ZAP-X vehicle, they didn't actually follow through by accepting any reservations. I know because I tried. They also have not responded to several attempts to contact them in regards to requests for info on their product or interest in its purchase.
I may give ZAP the benefit of a doubt and purchase a few stock shares. It hovers around $1. It is a way of helping an EV company since Tesla is not public. The way I look at it, they have some type of objective, achieving it however is cloudy at best. One never knows...they may surprise us and mass produce good vehicles. They probably require a good infusion of financing or a reality check.
Iz, I'm right there with you in purchasing some stock knowing darn well it's a penny stock and likely not going to make us a bundle, for the sole reason we're supporting the industry. BUT, where is the prototype of A CAR other than a zebra, that Joe Public may actually buy and be seen in? Until I see a prototype, I'll hold off buying a couple thousand shares.
Before investing in Zap, I would recommend reading the June 18, 2007, issue of Forbes. They did a review of Zap's business practices.
You can buy the article online. But someone posted the whole article here ...Where is my 10 foot pole? ...
Thanks so much for the info. Definitely seems like they are out of the picture, at least for me anyway, until they actually have something tangible.
Yep, scathing report. I think most consumers are suspicious and would want to see a product before putting any money down. I'd fall in that category. ZAP isn't rated by the Schwab Equity Rating, Goldman Sachs Rating, Argus 12 Month Rating, Standard & Poor's Opinion, Reuters Research Average Rating, the list goes on. This would take some time to get through, but I think this info. should confirm the Forbes article: http://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001024628
I was digging through one of ZAP's recent SEC filings ( http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1024628/000107261307001280/pre14a_15198.htm ) and it looks like the ZAP executive staff owns 52.9% of the company's shares. This means the upcoming annual shareholder meeting is little more than a formality; everything on the agenda will be approved. The most interesting item is the desire to authorize themselves to issue another 200,000,000 shares of stock. Half of that will no doubt be given to ZAP executives so they can retain control of the company, and the rest will be used for, among other things, "to expand ZAP’s efforts in the research and development of advanced technology vehicles, such as the ethanol-driven OBVIO! Automobiles and other fuel efficient vehicles.". No mention of ZAP-X or its prequel. A cynical take on this would be that ZAP is under legal obligation to only mention things they're serious about in their SEC filings. -Ryan / Kardax
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