The early career of Charles Wang, CEO of US-based electric carmaker WM GreenTech Automotive Corp (GTA), had little to do with cars before his mid-30s.

Raised in central China's Hunan province, Wang graduated from the law school at Xiangtan University in 1989 and became a court clerk in Changsha, Hunan's capital.

He quit the job after two years and went to Ohio University in the United States for a master's degree in international development studies. Later, he went to Duke University School of Law for further studies.

After graduation, Wang was invited to work at the Washington office of renowned law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, beginning his involvement in the fields of finance and business.

With that experience, he then joined Wiley Rein LLP as its head of China practice. His legal career was soaring, but Wang felt lost in billable hours day in and day out.

"I set high goals for my life and when I reached them I felt disappointed and wanted to try something else," he told China Daily during an interview in early April.

Based on intuition, observation and study of the market, he decided to make hybrid cars. But he soon found the route too under-developed and shifted to pure electrics.

He recalled that when he registered the auto factory in the US in 2009, there were more than 20 companies working on new energy vehicles. Only two have started mass production - Tesla and GTA.

He said that the success at GTA came because as a small company it can quickly respond to the market and develop its own niche. He and his team came to believe that a charging station not a necessity for daily commuting electric vehicles.

The GTA MyCar urban electric comes with a 110-volt charge cord that allows users to stop and get a boost from any standard electrical outlet. It can run 170 km on a single charge of six hours.

With the MyCar in production in the US, Wang said he also hopes to introduce it to China as soon as possible.

Wang has always been passionate about high performance cars. Like a scene in a film, during the day Wang was a well-dressed, well-poised man in a restrained white collar at a Wall Street office building, while at night he chased speed and passion with super sports cars.

Partly due to his mania, he met legendary racer and high-performance tuner Steve Saleen and established a relationship with Saleen Automotive.

At the Beijing auto show, GTA will introduce the Saleen sports cars to China with four models under the WM Saleen nameplate.

Wang said on a top 10 Most Expensive Car list by Forbes magazine in 2005, Saleen S7 took first place. He said only real super sports car fanciers are Saleen's major target customers.

"I won't call Saleen cars luxury goods no matter how expensive they might be. In my mind, luxury refers to brand value far beyond cost, but Saleen really worth the price," Wang said.

"People are paying for Saleen's engineering precession and performance excellence."

Such belief is reflected in his collection of watches. "I like watches, but I never buy so-called luxury watches," he said.

"Some of my watches happen to be the most expensive ones, but the price is not based on those watches' luxury brands but based on the mechanical complications and many months of fine craftsmanship for each time piece."

"I really understand and appreciate those mechanical sophistications and they are not for showing off," he added.

"This is true for WM Saleen. Taking Saleen S7 as an example, it may happen to be the most expensive car in the market, but its price is a reflection of its complex and precise engineering, and unsurpassed performance," Wang said.

xuxiao@chinadaily.com.cn

Wang in front of the WM Saleen S7 at the China Auto Show in Beijing this year. Photos Provided to China Daily

Wang is bringing the GTA electric MyCar to the auto show.

(China Daily 04/20/2014 page19)