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Detroit Electric's EV business gets a $1.8 billion jumpstart
Do you remember Detroit Electric? You're forgiven if you don't -- the American automaker vowed to make electric sports cars exciting back in 2013, but a combination of production delays (it delivered its first car in 2016) and Tesla's rapid rise largely robbed it of its thunder. However, it's about to get another shot at glory. Detroit Electric has unveiled a $1.8 billion joint venture with Chinese electric company Far East Smarter Energy that should kickstart its plans. The alliance will initially help ramp up production of the SP:01 sports car by the end of 2017, and pour $370 million into expanding Detroit Electric's European operations over the next 4 years.
Detroit Electric reveals the SP:01 sports EV with stick shifting, traces of Tesla
Anyone who wanted a Tesla Roadster but showed up too late to the party (or too early) is about to get a second chance as soon as this year, if not quite in the way they expected. The Detroit Electric badge has been restored once more for the SP:01, a high-speed EV that shares Tesla's early use of a Lotus design -- albeit an Exige coupe this time, not an Elise. Its 201HP equivalent motor can also approximate the Roadster Sport's brisk 0-60MPH time of 3.7 seconds. That's roughly where the major similarities stop, however. The SP:01 should have a shorter range (around 180 miles on a European cycle) and will take a longer 4.3 hours to charge up from a 240V source, but it will cater to enthusiasts with a lighter carbon fiber body, a higher 155MPH top speed and even the choice of a manual transmission. Detroit Electric goes so far as to include a clutch, although stick shifters won't have to use it when starting or stopping. Just be ready to pony up in short order if you like the SP:01's notion of electric revivalism: only 999 examples of the $135,000 car will roll off the line after production starts in August.
