SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY [Abstract]

SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

NOTE 11 - SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY

Common stock

2015 ISSUANCES

On February 11, 2015, the cancellation of 1,182,558 shares of common stock was processed to pay back the proceeds from convertible notes, and a partial repayment representing a principal reduction of $100,000 and $8,433 of interest was paid on the Company's outstanding convertible bond held by Yung. In September 30, 2015, the Company repurchased 4,811,633 shares of common stock at cost of $406,872 from Yung and cancelled those shares. The balance of the outstanding note issued to Korea Yung was $169,530 after the payment and cancellation of these shares. Yung is allowed to engage in open market sales of the shares through September 30, 2015. In the event the gross proceeds realized from the sale of the shares by Yung is greater than the principal and interest due on the bond as of the maturity date, Yung will be entitled to retain all proceeds. If the proceeds from the sale of shares are less than the principal and interest due on the bond as of the maturity date, ZAP will pay the shortfall to Yung in cash within five business days of written notice from Yung. In the event that on September 30, 2015, Yung holds unsold shares and there is an unpaid balance remaining on the bond, ZAP will repurchase from Yung all of the unsold shares at the price they were issued to Yung.

In September, 2015, the Company issued 89,194,715 shares to Mr. Wang Gang, the Co-Chief Executive Officer (“Co-CEO”) of the Company for his investment of $5,351,683 in the Company (approximately $4.5 million investment was loan by the Company to its subsidiary Jonway Auto).

In September, 2015, the amount of $814,863 investment from Cathaya Management Co Ltd and $350,000 due to Cathaya Management Co Ltd have been converted into 13,581,051 and 5,833,333 shares of common stock at price of $0.06, respectively.

In September, 2015, China Electric Vehicle Corporation (CEVC) has elected to convert the interest of $1,237,345 due on the $20.7 million convertible note to 14,454,743 shares of common stock at the average price of $0.086.

2014 ISSUANCES

Cathaya Operations Management Limited and China Electric Vehicle Corp have elected to convert the amounts recorded as due to related parties to common stock.  The amount of $967,543 due to Cathaya Operations Management Limited have been converted into 17,819,783 shares of common stock at 30% below market price based on the average trading prices of the previous 120 days after notification. The 17,819,783 shares of common stock have been issued in April 2014. In December, 2014, the company issued 4,513,163 shares to settle the cash advance of $410,800 from Cathaya Operations Management Limited.

China Electric Vehicle Corporation (CEVC) has elected to convert the interest of $639,068 due on the $20.7 million convertible note to 6,439,552 shares of common stock at the average of the closing prices for each trading day during such fiscal quarter ended on (and including) the last trading day of such fiscal quarter. The 6,439,552 shares of common stock have been issued in April 2014. In December 2014, the company issued 8,727,099 shares to settle the interest of $1,237,345 due on the convertible note.

In March 2014, Jonway Group agreed to pay all of the outstanding mold expenses of the Minivan that is currently still outstanding, and in return ZAP will share half of the asset value and share the IPR (50%) of the Minivan with Jonway Auto. The Minivan was purchased by ZAP from a prior agreement between ZAP and Jonway Group which was signed on January 18, 2012.  In return for ZAP receiving worldwide exclusivity for the sales, distribution, and product IPR rights for all current and future models of the compressed natural gas (“CNG”) versions of Jonway Auto's Products, including, but not limited to, SUV, minivan, and all other models, the Company's Board of Directors authorized on March 28, 2014 to issue 61,000,000 shares of common stock to the companies owned by the Co-CEO and shareholder Alex Wang, including 20,000,000 shares to Major Management Limited, 20,000,000 shares to Max Reliance Management Limited and 21,000,000 shares to New Dragon Management Limited. The 61,000,000 shares of common stock have been issued in April 2014.

In May 2014, ZAP issued 62,500 shares of common stock to Jeffery and Karen Banks, who paid $5,000 in cash on behalf of ZAP to address a lawsuit from Jackson Long.

On February 26, 2014, a binding letter of commitment in equity investment in ZAP was signed between the Company and four individual investors. The four individual investors are the representatives of the employees of Jonway Auto and Jonway Group in China and they will hold the issued stocks on behalf of these employees. The shares were issued at discounted share price based on averaged price over the last 60 days from the date of signing the agreement. As of December 31, 2014, $1.9 million was received by ZAP. The number of stock issued on August 14, 2014 was 31,666,668 shares.

On December 31, 2014, the company issued 10,915,748 shares and 2,666,666 shares at $0.06 per share to Alex Wang, the CO-CEO of the company and an individual for the cash advance of $654,945 and 160,000 respectively. The cash advance provided working capital to finance the operations of the company.

Stock-based Compensation

The Company has stock compensation plans for employees and directors. The Company recognizes the stock-based compensation expense over the requisite service period of the individual grantees, which generally equals the vesting period. All of the stock-based compensation is accounted for as an equity instrument. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, $18,224 and $54,627 and $56,000 and 169,000 have been charged to general and administrative expense, respectively.

In June 2015, the Company granted 200,000 restricted shares to Michael Ringstad in lieu of salary compensation and also for his acceptance for the position of Interim CFO. The stock was set at average of last 30 trading days, and the vesting period is for a period of 3 years from the date of grant. Michael Ringstad cannot sell the shares within 6 months from the date of grant and the Company retains the right to buy back the shares at any time at the market price. $658 and $1,316 was charged to general and administrative expense for three and nine months ended September 30, 2015.