Hengchi's "shell borrowing" rebirth falls into the token trap: The "white knight" persona of the Middle Eastern car company is questioned.

Do you remember that stylish yet unfortunately bankrupt car company, HiPhi?

It welcomed the Middle Eastern white knight, possibly coming back to life.

According to reports, a Middle Eastern electric vehicle company named EV Electra plans to invest 1 billion dollars to participate in the restructuring of HiPhi Automotive and seeks to gain a controlling stake.

According to Tianyancha, on May 22, Jiangsu HiPhi Automotive Co., Ltd. was officially established with a registered capital of 143.2665 million USD. The company was jointly funded by the Lebanese electric vehicle company EV Electra Ltd. and its parent company Hua Yuan Yun Tong, holding shares of 69.8% and 30.2%, respectively.

The latest environmental assessment report disclosed by Yancheng Economic and Technological Development Zone shows that the renovation project of the Yueda Kia No. 1 factory, which previously served as a contract manufacturer for HiPhi Motors, has been launched, with plans to produce three models: HiPhi X, Y, and Z. The project is expected to be completed in October this year.

What kind of entity is this Middle Eastern electric vehicle company?

Public information shows that EV Electra was founded in 2017 and is an electric vehicle company headquartered in Beirut, Lebanon.

The official website introduction states that the company is the first Arab-Canadian electric vehicle manufacturer to launch electric vehicles; the first electric vehicle company in the Middle East and the Arab world; with operations in Canada, Italy, Germany, Turkey, and Asia.

It is worth noting that EV Electra has been expanding globally in recent years: acquiring a majority stake in Detroit Electric in 2021 and announcing the purchase of the NEVS Emily GT and Pons Robotaxi projects in 2023.

Currently, the homepage of EV Electra’s official website features the logo of HiPhi Automotive and three models.

However, unexpectedly, the editor found that the electric vehicle company EV Electra is actually conducting a token public offering on its official website.

The official website shows that EV Electra has launched its ecological Token EVET, which can currently be purchased directly by connecting a wallet at a rate of 1 EVET = 1 USDT. If you are unsure how to use cryptocurrency, bank transfers are also supported for purchase.

According to its description, purchasing vehicles with the EV Electra Token offers a 20% discount and allows for minting with EVET.

EV Electra NFT, this NFT is equivalent to a type of virtual share, which can be used to obtain company profits, of course, the above is just a statement.

Open the white paper released in April 2025 to find out more, EV Electra adopts a dual-token system.

EVET is a utility token, with a total amount of 1.2 billion, 28.33% private, 41.6% public, and 30% belonging to the team, according to the pricing of 1EVET=1USDT, trying to raise $840 million, which is not small. Its practical benefit is that you can get a 20% discount when you pay with VET.

EVEN is an ERC-721 format NFT, with a total of 12 million, mainly used for profit sharing and governance. EV Electra promises to convert 10% of net profit into USDT to distribute to NFT holders.

In the white paper, EV Electra outlines a future blueprint (big pie), selling 100,000 vehicles, generating $1.5 billion in profit, and distributing $150 million to NFT holders.

According to its development roadmap, EV Electra plans to complete Token issuance and exchange listing in the second quarter (Q2) of 2025, establish a governance framework and production scheduling in Q3, and complete the first USDT profit distribution in 2026. From 2027 to 2030, the goal is to achieve a production target of 500,000 electric vehicles.

Why issue a coin?

EV Electra founder Jihad M. Mohammad announced on his personal social media that the company originally planned to go public on Nasdaq but changed its plan due to “Trump’s crazy behavior,” shifting to a “hybrid approach” by digitizing part of the company’s equity in the form of NFTs, which will carry the rights to dividends. Additionally, there are plans for a reverse merger listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

As for the purpose of financing, Jihad was outspoken that part of the money would be used to help Palestine and the other part would be used to create a fund, stressing that they were the first company to adopt the model and have pure Arab and Muslim roots.

However, both EV Electra and founder Jihad are quite controversial.

In 2023, EV Electra was accused of participating in a cryptocurrency scam, using car manufacturing as a pretext to defraud investors. Later, Jihad responded that the software developer, Swedish businessman Anthony Norman, had been detained, been convicted of multiple fraud charges, had been dismissed, and investors had received refunds.

At the end of 2023, automotive media reported that EV Electra used images of other manufacturers’ cars on its website, showcasing them as its own designs, including the Skywell ET5 SUV and a K-1 Attack kit car, all of which were marked with the EV Electra logo. After being exposed, these concept images disappeared from the EV Electra website.

Currently, HiPhi and EV Electra have jointly established a new company, with the Middle Eastern new owner contributing registered capital of 100 million USD according to the shareholding ratio, with a subscription date of December 31, 2025.

On the official website for the token issuance of EVElectra, the materials from Gaohe have already been integrated, stating that “After EV Electra acquires HiPhi, it will elevate high-end electric vehicles to a whole new level.”

This series of actions has also raised many questions in the industry: a controversial Middle Eastern electric vehicle company, while promising to restructure HiPhi with 1 billion dollars, is also raising 840 million dollars through a Token method, which makes its true intentions and financial strength worth contemplating.

More worryingly, the brand and product image of HiPhi have been directly used for Token marketing. Has this operation been recognized by Huaren Yuntong?

From car manufacturing to token issuance, from the Nasdaq listing plan to NFT virtual equity, from the commitment to help Palestine to claiming pure Arab ancestry, EV Electra’s business model and financing strategy seem to be filled with uncertainty and contradictions.

We look forward to and support the rebirth of HiPhi, but we also hope that HiPhi can carefully assess the qualifications and intentions of its partners, not lose direction in the fog of capital, and not let this Chinese brand become a pawn for foreign companies to hype cryptocurrencies.

After all, a true “white knight” should bring funding, technology, and market, rather than an empty promise and an illusory Token blueprint.