Detroit Electric to Unveil Three New Models Over Next Three Years
The U.K. firm is taking the fight directly to Tesla.
U.K. EV startup Detroit Electric, which borrows its name from a defunct American electric car brand of the early 20th century, has just released a plan for the future of their EV lineup. Rather than rolling out a modest single model, Detroit Electric is planning on unveiling a crossover, a saloon (British parlance for “sedan”), and a new sports car over the next three years. They’ve dropped a teaser of all three EVs at the 10th annual Cenex Low Carbon Vehicles event, going on now in Millbrook, England.
Detroit Electric is clearly taking the fight directly to Tesla. Currently, its only model is the SP.01 sports car, which is an electric roadster based on the Lotus Elise (sound familiar?). With a recent investment of $1.8 billion from a joint venture deal with Chinese firm Far East Smarter Energy Group, Detroit Electric can now afford to complete the 999-unit production run of the SP.01, as well as develop its new lineup.
So, what can we expect from the new EVs? We really don’t know much yet aside from these line drawings, but one report from Motor Authority sites range expectations as optimistic as 300-500 miles on a full charge, depending on the vehicle. Like Tesla, we can probably expect to see different model ranges with bigger batteries being available for a premium cost. We know that a Detroit Electric SP.01 has a range of about 180 miles and a full charge takes 8 hours with a standard 13A power source or 4.3 hours with a 7.7 kWh charging unit. Pricing and specifics on availability for the three new models are a mystery.
While this news may have raised more questions than it answered, it’s exciting to see another startup making a serious effort at creating exciting new electric cars.
