ZAP Signs Deal with China

SANTA ROSA, California (September 16, 2003) - ZAP (OTCBB:ZAPZ), the Northern California electric vehicle pioneer, announced today it has signed an exclusive agreement to import electric automobiles from China. ZAP believes this to be one of the first times production cars made in China would be imported into the United States. ZAP has signed an exclusive agreement with Heibao Group Co., Ltd. of China to distribute the new electric car in the United States, Central America and South America. Heibao is privately owned with 3,000 employees. Its 140,000 square foot facility has the capacity to produce 100,000 vehicles per year. One of its subsidiaries, Shandong Heibao Stock Co., Ltd. has been publicly traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange since 1996. The new ZAPCAR™ is the first vehicle of its kind to utilize an advanced drivetrain powered by an asynchronous AC motor system delivering up to four times the horsepower of other models in its class. See one online at http://www.zapworld.com. Earlier this year, ZAP announced it would be importing electric cars from Italy. While ZAP has traditionally made electric scooters and bicycles, CEO Steve Schneider says the publicly owned company is positioning itself to be a global leader in the marketing and distribution for many types of advanced transportation technologies. "This is an exciting time for electric transportation," said ZAP CEO Steve Schneider. "New developments are happening almost daily in nearly every part of the world. We believe this is not only the first Chinese production electric car available in the United States; it is most likely the first Chinese-made car of any type to be imported into the USA. We are proud to have automotive partners now in both Asia and Europe. ZAP is committed to bringing the best electric transportation technologies to market today and our ZAP auto dealers will continually have access to the most complete line of electric transportation in the world." "We are very excited to work with ZAP and look forward to a long and prosperous relationship," said David Li, North American representative of Heibao. "When we evaluated all the companies that could distribute our cars, we felt ZAP had the most experience and best distribution plan for success." ZAP is establishing a distribution network for its electric vehicles in the independent auto dealer market. Limited dealership opportunities are available. In 2002, ZAP merged with Voltage Vehicles, a distribution company targeting the automotive market with advanced transportation technologies. Voltage Vehicles has licensed for the distribution of vehicles from a number of different vehicle manufacturers.