“The newly named RTEV Inc., which has sold all-electric recreational vehicles for several years, is launching a new unit called Wheego that will focus on street-legal vehicles in the U.S. Ruff & Tuff Products, the former name of the company, will now operate as a separate unit and continue to market utility vehicles.

The first Wheego products, which are due this fall, will be electric scooters and mopeds. They will be followed in 2009 by “auto-shaped” low-speed electric vehicles that can run on roads with posted speed limits of 35 mph or less. Unlike the current lineup of recreational vehicles, the new models will have enclosed passenger compartments. By 2010, RTEV hopes to launch on-highway models capable of speeds up to 60 mph and a driving range of 100 miles on a single charge. It envisions a lineup that includes a minivan, a two-seater and a pickup-type vehicle; base prices are expected to begin at
less than $30,000.

The privately held Atlanta-based company plans to modify existing vehicle platforms and outsource production to China, with final assembly completed in the U.S. RTEV currently is testing its electric drivetrain technology in a Suzuki minivan and is talking with several potential partners in China, India and South Korea. For its current recreational vehicles, RTEV is sourcing sealed absorbed-glass-mat
(AGM) dry cell batteries from Canada’s Discover-Energy. It eventually expects to switch to a lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry, which the company believes is more promising than lithium-ion units. RTEV currently is working with several battery suppliers in China to develop next-generation technology.

RTEV has about two dozen employees. The company is headed by CEO Mike McQuary, an entrepreneur who previously headed Internet service providers MindSpring and EarthLink. He joined RTEV last year.

Ruff & Tuff Products introduced its first line of electric vehicles in 2005 after five years of development and testing. It sold nearly 1,000 such vehicles last year.”