Detroit Electric SP:01 unveiled, Shanghai debut

detroit electric sp01 01

Ah, nearly five years on, Detroit Electric is back, this time with a car that it’s taken the wraps off ahead of its official debut in Shanghai. The SP:01 is a two-seat all-electric sports car, based on a modified Lotus Elise.

Er, yes, if the donor vehicle sounds familiar, it is. Back in 2008 there was a drive session with a DE-modified electric Elise when the company was in negotiations with Proton for electric car development.

Then, the company – which was resurrected as a brand name from the car Anderson Electric built in the 1930s – announced that it was looking to work with Proton to manufacture electric cars.

The company signed a supply and manufacturing agreement with Proton in March 2009, where it was to buy the Persona and GEN2, replace the CamPro engine with an electric motor drivetrain, and rebadge the cars as the Detroit Electric e63 and e46 models. The project, however, never took off. Later, it also inked a deal with Chinese automaker Dongfeng to use its battery-electric drivetrain technology for the latter’s models, after which things went very quiet.

detroit electric sp01 07

Not anymore. The SP:01 is due to be a limited run of 999 vehicles, built at Detroit Electric’s new production facility in Wayne County, Michigan, with cars sold worldwide through a network of specialist retail partners.

The rear-wheel drive SP:01 features a compact, mid-mounted 201 hp electric motor delivering 225 Nm of torque), a lightweight, purpose-designed battery pack and all-new carbon-fibre bodywork for the Elise. Total weight is just 1,067 kg.

The company boasts that this one is going to be the fastest pure-electric production cars on the market, with a 249 km/h top speed and 0-100 km/h time of 3.7 seconds. The 37 kWh battery offers the car an operating range of around 305 km (tested to the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) standard) between charges, and a full charge takes 4.3 hours.

Following its premiere in Shanghai, the car is set to go on sale at the end of August.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • Joe Radzif on Apr 05, 2013 at 4:07 pm

    Lotus look-alike

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 15
    • seancorr on Apr 05, 2013 at 4:15 pm

      Well it is a Lotus Elise but a modified version of it.

      I can’t see this model doing well in the long run as its their first model and its a limited run edition with no news on after sales support.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
      • kadajawi on Apr 08, 2013 at 10:22 pm

        Wait a minute. I thought Tesla stopped producing the Tesla Roadster because Lotus stopped producing the Elise. Now… here is a new company that is doing a Tesla Roadster like car, based on an Elise? Hmm…?

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Hyundai De la Junk on Apr 05, 2013 at 4:36 pm

      It is sad that only other shows launch cars. Our KLIMS are so low standard, even our own Protons are not launched there.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 2
  • Zlanu on Apr 05, 2013 at 4:24 pm

    Because it is based off of the Lotus chassis given to them when they started the business?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Jonnie on Apr 05, 2013 at 4:29 pm

    Have you ever try get into a Lotus and get out? It is made for midgets.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 9
    • Jimmy on Apr 05, 2013 at 5:27 pm

      Only youngsters dare to drive Lotuses to work.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
    • Dru-Zod on Apr 05, 2013 at 11:13 pm

      I’ve seen English ladies with heels getting in and out. They made it look easy. WOW!!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
      • Dru-Zod on Apr 05, 2013 at 11:23 pm

        I’ve seen English ladies with heels getting in and out of the Elise before (sorry for the typo). They made it look easy. WOW!!

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
    • 4G63T DSM on Apr 08, 2013 at 1:13 pm

      Its made for agile, athletic drivers.

      Not for an old overweight fart tying to pretend he is young and sporty.

      its not difficult once you get used to it. Put your left leg in, hold the roof/A pillar with your right arm and slide your butt in. :)

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Not as impressive as Tesla take on electric Elies, though that one is out of production I think. Anyways I really want to know what happen to the DE-proton electric vehicle, it was a big Hoo-Haa back in 08′ along with the Emas and just a few years back, the Exora REEV, and speaking of proton -off topic-weren’t they supposed to present us with their turnaround programme in march?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • Dru-Zod on Apr 05, 2013 at 5:34 pm

    What happened to the Proton – DE tie-up. Weren’t they supposed to have launch the Electric Persona & Gen-2? Is this another of DRB’s brilliant cost down initiative?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Kalun on Apr 05, 2013 at 7:34 pm

    I see Tesla is going to bring this to court.
    Tesla going to sue DE for copying the idea. Typical American.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 4
  • Josh Ling on Apr 06, 2013 at 12:40 am

    will this be the only product company produced and then the whole company just went bankrupt and everything is history? with many car manufacturers went out of business these days, i am concerned….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • 4G63T DSM on Apr 08, 2013 at 1:08 pm

    Want efficiency and performance? Start with a light chassis.

    CC was right all these years ago, and his philosophy remains intact today.

    I’m sure Renault would be tempted to un-mothball its Sport Spider chassis and sticking in the Fluence ZE’s electric drive.

    I would love to see someone local here sticking in some homebuilt electric drive into a Kancil. Its not really that complicated…. if you can get past JPJ.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
 

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