Miles Electric Vehicles was a manufacturer and distributor of all-electric vehicles manufactured by FAW Tianjin in China that met international car safety 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, 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 chassis, are the world's first crash tested NEVs that achieved United States Department of Transportation (DOT), California Air Resources Board and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (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, Yale University, Rice University, Stanford University, UCLA, California Polytechnic State University, 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) 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,