In the world of cars anything that comes out of Detroit, Michigan is always considered to be from the womb of all that is motoring and the Detroit Electric SP:01 is no different. The original Detroit Electric produced around 13, 000 electric cars during the early part of the previous century but then quietly faded away. Now, thanks to the efforts of the former Group CEO of Lotus Engineering and current executive director of Lotus Cars, Albert Lam, the company has setup shop in the Motown’s historic Fisher building and will produce a range of three cars of which the all-electric SP:01 is the first.
The SP:01 with its Lotus roots is based on the shell of the superlight Lotus Exige, but the bodywork has been rebuilt and designed for the company as a rolling chassis using a large amount of carbonfibre. The electric car has mid-rear configuration with power being sent to the rear wheels.
Where the SP:01 comes alive is the engine. Sitting behind the passenger cabin is an air cooled AC electric mill that is powered by two 37kW batteries. This unit produces the equivalent of 200PS and 22Nm of torque. Power is transmitted to the rear wheels via a four-speed manual (yes it has one!) the company says an optional extra includes a fifth gear or a two-speed automatic. It has also been fitted with ABS and ESP.
The car has a range of around 273km and can be charged up using any US specific 240volts socket and will take 4.3 hours to recharge. The company has pointed out that it can be recharged using a lower output but that it will take eight hours for a full charge.
Inside, the SP:01 get a combination of carbon fibre and leather. It gets a integrated smartphone in the centre that controls most of the internal functions. The system called SAMI (Smartphone Application Managed Infotainment) includes options to control features like the navigation, music player, regenerative braking as well as provides details like the amount of charge left and of course allows you to make calls.
The company also says that the SP:01 is capable of providing charge in the event of a power failure and does this through something Detroit Electric calls the 360 Powerback. The system is operated via the SAMI system.
The Detroit Electric SP:01 will go on sale from August for a price of 135, 000 USD (Rs 73 lakh before local taxes) and will be produced at a factory in Wayne County in Michigan that has a capacity of 2500 units per year. The EV maker has also said that it will launch two more models by the end of 2014.
