Detroit Electric resurrected as $25,000 electric car
Detroit Electric, an auto brand once favored by Thomas Edison, is mounting a 21st century comeback with electric cars aimed at U.S. soccer moms and Chinese city dwellers.
The company on Monday is expected to announce a partnership with Malaysian auto manufacturer Proton Holdings to introduce an all-electric sedan next year.
Detroit Electric will offer a compact four-door, based on an existing Proton model, with a range of 180 kilometers (110 miles), for between $24,000 and $26,000. An extended-range option will go 320 kilometers, or about 200 miles, and cost $4,000 to $5,000 more. The company also plans to make a hatchback.
The car will use lithium-polymer batteries supplied by a Korean manufacturer and run on an engine developed by Detroit Electric's Netherlands-based engineering team.
The company will market the cars in China, Europe, and the U.S. as an everyday vehicle, comparable in size and performance to popular gasoline cars, said Albert Lam, the CEO of Detroit Electric and the former CEO at British sports car designer Lotus Engineering.
"In 2007, we adopted the Detroit Electric name and revived it because it brings us in line with the vision and essence of electric driving they had," Lam said on Friday. "We want to produce an affordable, practical pure electric car."
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Detroit Electric's planned all-electric sedan will have a range of 110 miles and a top speed of 110 miles per hour.
(Credit: Detroit Electric)In early part of the 20th century, Detroit Electric was one of a number of electric car manufacturers. These cars drove only about 20 miles per hour and had limited range but were considered suitable for city use and, by some, easier to drive than gasoline cars, which required a manual start.
In 1900, 28 percent of all cars produced were electric, but 20 years later the industry was all but dead, according to Michael Brian Schiffer, author of a history of electric cars in the U.S. The original Detroit Electric went out of business in the 1930s.
A century later, nearly all automakers are developing all-electric or hybrid cars aimed at mainstream buyers, which will start coming out next year.
Detroit Electric, though, is taking a different route than established auto companies, choosing a business model that relies on contract manufacturing and a network of partnerships, according to Lam.
Virtual corporation
Rather than build cars itself, Detroit Electric's engine and battery pack will be fitted onto Proton's existing cars and manufactured in Malaysia by Proton. Detroit Electric will modify the styling to distinguish its cars.
Albert Lam, CEO of Detroit Electric.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)"Contract manufacturing is the future of the auto industry," Lam said. The business model will allow it to bring cars to market faster and eliminate the need to raise the money to build those facilities, Lam said.
The electric motor and controller offer are relatively light weight at 18 kilograms for 200 horsepower and designed with very few components, he said.
The cars will first be launched in Europe and China in the first quarter of 2010 and then made available in the U.S. by the third quarter of the year, he said. That's a delay from the 2009 target the company set last year to deliver both electric sedans and trucks when it announced its production plans.
In terms of performance, the cars will have the peppy acceleration typical of electric powertrains, going from zero to 60 miles per hour in less than 8 seconds. The top speed will be 110 miles per hour and they will seat five people.
The company plans to establish dealer networks in the U.S., China, and Europe and position their cars as electric alternatives to popular sedans, according to Marianne McInerney, North American president of Detroit Electric.
An oft-cited statistic is that most U.S. citizens don't drive more than 40 miles in a day, which this car will allow people do do, she noted. "This car has been designed to appeal to appeal to the broadest audience possible."
In its first year, the company plans to manufacture 40,000 cars a year and increase volume from there, Lam said. He added that the company is in discussions with other manufacturers in Asia.
A signing ceremony in Kuala Lumpur to mark the partnership with Proton, whose majority shareholder is the Malaysian government, will be attended by Malaysia's prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who has driven an early Detroit Electric prototype.
A 1914 Detroit Electric which was owned by electricity pioneer Charles Steinmetz.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld. E-mail Martin. 
they'd sell more if they looked exactly like the originals.
guaranteed.
ZAP Misdeeds:
Their factory turned out to be a sham:
http://earth2tech.com/2009/03/09/zap-kentucky-deal-is-a-lesson-for-politicians-touting-green-jobs/
Plus more scams:
http://mfrtech.com/articles/1570.html
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/03/the-zap-x-and-a.html
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/11/26/ge-capital-kentucky-zap-deal-what-kentucky-zap-deal/
http://earth2tech.com/2008/11/20/zap-deal-going-splat/
Newspaper Report: Integrity Manufacturing Being Sued; Bank Seeking Sale of Property
Friday, February 06, 2009 - Article #1845
Click image to enlarge The Business First of Louisville is reporting that National City Bank is suing Shepherdsville, Kentucky-based Integrity Manufacturing and other companies connected with entrepreneur Randall Waldman.
According to front page report, the suit alleges the defendants are in default for more than $1 million for failing to pay off a loan that came due in May 2008. National City - which was acquired by PNC Financial Services Group in late 2008 - holds a mortgage on the property on Ky. 44 where Integrity has its factory and the bank is asking the court to sell the property to pay the debt.
Waldman reportedly said the bank declined to renew the mortgage agreement when it expired.
The Business First article also lists several other legal challenges against Integrity and Waldman. Integrity Manufacturing, a precision machining operation, has employed as many as 400, but Waldman reportedly said the company now has only about 200 workers.
Another venture, Integrity Automotive ? owned by Waldman and several minority partners ? was set to be a majority owner of a new one million square foot ZAP plant in Simpson County, Kentucky. The company would be under a production contract with California-based ZAP (OTCBB: ZAAP), which develops, markets and distributes electric vehicles. ZAP started contracting with overseas manufactures to produce the vehicles and now looks to bring some of that production back to the United States, company officials have said.
The endeavor in Kentucky was estimated to cost about $200 million.
Integrity Automotive says it's completed an application for a $200 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program. In a January news release, Waldman said the application for a fed loan was a major step to getting the plant built in Kentucky. There was no indication when a decision would be made on the recent federal loan application.
Last summer, state officials announced the ZAP plant would come to Kentucky and bring as many as 4,000 jobs.
Within months the plan seemed to unravel.
In November 2008, Waldman told news sources - including Manufacturing & Technology eJournal - he had financing lined up for the ZAP plant through GE Capital. Then, he said, GE pulled the plug on all its U.S. projects leaving the plans in limbo.
A spokesperson from GE disputed that account, saying the finance company had never made a commitment to the plant. When asked if the governor's office had failed to verify that financing for the project was in place before making the big announcement, a spokesperson said "we were told that "financing was in place."
Click image to enlarge For more information about Integrity Manufacturing visit http://www.integrity-manufacturing.com/
For more information about ZAP visit http://www.zapworld.com/
Related articles:
http://www.mfrtech.com/articles/1570.html
from the release:
The 100-year-old Detroit Electric brand was reestablished in 2007 as a joint venture by California electric vehicle manufacturer ZAP (OTC Bulletin Board: ZAAP - News) and China Youngman Automobile Group. Under the agreement, ZAP will transfer ownership interest in Detroit Electric in exchange for North American sales and distribution rights for all vehicles developed and manufactured by Detroit Electric as well as $750,000 (US Dollars). According to Lam, China Youngman Automobile Group will relinquish its ownership under a separate arrangement, but will continue to provide vehicle platforms to Detroit Electric for pure electric transit buses and coaches.
Detroit Electric has attracted technology-based shareholders and investors in Europe to continue its development program for a range of four wheeled, multi-passenger automobiles for manufacture in Malaysia and China. The Company expects to announce its vehicle projects by the end of 2008.
-GE Capital stopped financing big jobs. In case you didn't know, GE lost their shirt just like a bunch of other companies. Is that ZAP's fault?
-The company that was supposed to build ZAP's Kentucky factory went bankrupt and are the target of several lawsuits. Zap is not being sued, the company Zap hired to build a factory is being sued. Is tha ZAP's fault?
-Zap is suing Dailmer-Chrysler for interfearing with it's business. Apparently that makes Zap look bad. Go ZAP!
-An article written in 2008 criticized Zap because it didn't employ many people in 2006. The journalist didn't bother to print what the then-current (2008) labor force at Zap was. Outdated information, clearly an unbalanced article.
-Zap doesn't make a big profit, in fact it looses money. Considering the 'Big 3' were begging congress for cash a few months back, that's par for the course.
Nice fail.
You're right. Using MS is a bad example. The computers that come with it are really cheap. But OEM Windows costs a lot. My point, that even you should be able to grasp is that sheeple tend to buy based on cost first and foremost. Cost and features. It doesn't matter if it is good or not. If the box lists enough features and the cost is low, they will buy. Even if they end up throwing it away a month later. If enough people decided to buy only quality products, the cost of those products would come down. But people don't always act in their own best interest. Just look at the president we voted in twice for the last 8 years. Amen
That is one interpretation...sure. And if it's the case that aka_tripleB meant it that way...I'll point out again that the car is available in a 200 mile version (and models from shops like Tesla are available with 300 mile options)..giving a "trip radius" of 100+ miles, not 50. Far more as recharging stations begin to pop up (similar situation to owning a propane/LNG vehicle in some parts of the country: unlimited potential range *if* you can find a filling station when you need one). And as for the 5-minute rechargeable batteries...the basic tech is here now...just have to wait until the next generation of production batteries incorporates the new know-how.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Nucleon
It will be the solution for everything dealing with transportation.
Yelling incorrect information indicates you're an idiot.
The Volt will be able to go up to 40 miles on battery before the on-board gasoline engine kicks in to supply more electricity to the drive system. The full range is 400+ miles.
I don't think what you're describing is easy, else it would have already been done. What you describe requires bigger batteries, bigger motors and bigger controllers. That means higher cost, higher weight, volume limitations, changes to vehicle dynamics and safety factors, etc. Pretty much a complete redesign is required to pull it off IMHO.
Exclusionary auto mfg has ruled in the the US for far too long, now we will all have choices. Beyond that the Contract Mfg. concept has been used by so many industries for years but it was just one more thing that Detroit said it can't do. Their view is still that one person driving a new every 2 years, 4000 pound SUV to the grocery is just fine. Fine for them but not sustainable for all of us.
Hopefully mainstream electric cars will quickly be able to deliver what most of us demand
can comfortably fit four 6' tall Americans and a trunk full of their stuff
will run all electric for all the errands/commuting for the week
have the range to drive say 600 highway miles on the weekend
Seems like to closest is the Volt, but since GM is on shaky ground these day, who knows if it will ever reach the showroom or be affordable for us. Seems to me that people who will spend $40k on a car are already driving a Lexus or something similar.
- by amps911 April 3, 2009 6:42 AM PDT
- If its not made in the US ! Forget it ! Not Interested ! Keep it out !
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