Detroit Electric to base electric cars on Proton cars?

UPDATE: Detroit Electric press conference in Malaysia – read more about Detroit Electric and our experience driving the Detroit Electric Lotus Elise and the Detroit Electric Proton Persona.

Albert LamWe may see electric versions of the Proton Savvy, Proton GEN2 and even a possible Proton MPV very soon, as evident from this recent revelation. They won’t be Proton-badged though – the world will know them as Detroit Electric cars. The Detroit Electric was an electric car produced by the Anderson Electric Car Company in Detroit between 1907 to 1939. It had a top speed of 32km/h and a maximum range of about 130km, though driving it in an efficient manner scored a record of 340.1km on a single charge.

The new Detroit Electric will be a joint venture between ZAP and China’s Youngman. Ex-Lotus Engineering top man Albert Lam (shown top left) will chair the new Detroit Electric venture. Its first cars will roll off the production line in summer 2009.

Now here’s where we find out some of Detroit Electric’s cars will be based off Proton bodies. Detroit Electric cars will be brought into the European market by a Dutch consortium called Electric Cars Europe (ECE). Their website lists a couple of models like an electric version of the Lotus Elise and an electric Volkswagen Golf.

But the Detroit Electric range is also listed: a four model line-up that consists of a subcompact, a mid-sized sedan/hatchback, the Zap alias, and a full-sized SUV called the ZAP-X, which we all know is an electric-powered Lotus APX.

Detroit Electric Proton SavvyTo the left you will find the information on the compact electric car that Detroit Electric will offer. It is quite obviously a Proton Savvy with no badge on the front.

According to the preliminary info, the Detroit Electric Proton Savvy will be launched in the 4th quarter of 2009. It will be powered by a 30kW (40hp) electric motor that’s backed by lithium-ion batteries.

Range is about 300km, and I am not sure if my translation is right but it appears that the vehicle can be charged up in between 2.5 hours to 7 hours, depending on the power supply. Estimated price is 22,491 Euros, or about RM112,188.00!

Detroit Electric Proton GEN2The next car is described as a mid-sized sedan/hatchback. The silhouette looks like the Proton GEN2, except it seems to have a very radically styled front end. Two door handles on the side can be seen, showing that it has at least 4 doors, or 5 if its a hatch like the GEN2.

This larger Detroit Electric Proton GEN2 probably has a larger battery so it can go further with a maximum range of 550km, and on to a top speed of 190km/h thanks to its powerful 150kW (200 horsepower) electric motor. Charging time is listed as being between 3.5 hours to 10 hours, again depending on the source of power.

The Detroit Electric mid-sized sedan possibly and likely to be based on the GEN2 is expected to be launched in the second quarter of 2010 and will retail for 29,251 Euros, or RM145,599.00!

Detroit Electric ZAP-XThe final model (other than the ZAP Alias which I will not be talking about here) is the Detroit Electric ZAP-X based on ZAP’s ZAP-X concept which is in turn based on the Lotus APX, a 5-seater MPV developed by Lotus. Proton’s MPV could possibly be some variation of this concept by Lotus.

The Detroit Electric ZAP-X will be a monster, featuring 400kW (536 horsepower) of power and travelling up to 225km/h. Sounds like a BMW X6 competitor to me. It takes less than 4 seconds to get up to 100km/h.

Range is expected to be about 525km which indicates rather large lithium ion batteries but no figures were given on how long it would take to charge them up.

An expected launching date for the ZAP-X is the 4th quarter of 2010, and the Detroit Electric MPV/SUV vehicle will cost 71,400 Euros, or an astronomical RM355,400!

The usage of Proton cars to provide the base chassis for this project actually makes sense as Youngman (one of the partners in Detroit Electric, the other is ZAP) already has a relationship with Proton for it to supply left hand drive versions of the Proton GEN2 for rebadging in China as the Europestar RCR. Initially the orders will be CBU, but recently CKD kits have already started being shipped to China for local assembly there.

In fact, the faint sketch you see used to depict the Detroit Electric mid-sized sedan may be what a facelifted Europestar RCR will look like once the CKD operations in China are running smoothly and Youngman decides to give the Chinese GEN2 its own styling.

The technology used in these models are probably too expensive which is why the prices are quite high, making these cars far out of reach from the mass market here. It would be interesting to see if anyone brings them in here, perhaps Proton themselves.

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • chris (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 1:22 am

    1st!!!
    Electric car based on Potong model?Bad idea

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  • chee89 (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 2:03 am

    my proton savvy has been shocking me everytime i touch the door..
    make it run on electric? wow..

    but, a great leap forward nonetheless.

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  • ideoteque_85 (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 2:35 am

    i would buy an electric proton! what the heck

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  • MisterBenjo (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 3:29 am

    wah 150k for a proton…no wonder no news about proton hybrid!

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  • Kevin Lee (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 4:58 am

    it is based on the gen2, u could see the infamous gen 2 sidemirrors, it is different than the lotus apx side mirrors

    it features an elongated front lamps, just like my waja mc3 shop and a large gaping mouth, reminescent to the audi a3

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  • dodgeviper88 (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 5:12 am

    it is a trend to use a lotus elise as a base to build electric cars. Looks like now maybe proton is being used as well. Yes? no?

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  • keretakura (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 5:58 am

    so CHEAP !!! PROTON should put the price around RM 5 million … he he
    then other BRAND could be more than that so Malaysian would be PROUD to buy THE CHEAPEST hybrid car in Malaysia. In this case PROTON can gain more profit than PETRONAS he he ….. MALAYSIA BOLEH !!

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  • mokkf82 (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 6:08 am

    I would not condemn much on Proton, but i rather see what’s the technology they going to give out with that price tag.
    let’s hope it will not be a screw up project.

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  • azrai (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 6:59 am

    Good news. At least they make appearance in US. But why the name is Detroit? Pity on that part. The electric Gen-2 front look garang. Any bodykit from layang2.

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  • mcwk (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 7:18 am

    The prices quoted are directly converted from USD – we haven’t added in our (in)famous high tax rate, which would surely increase the price quite significantly.

    Looks like only the rich can afford to drive one of these….

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  • maibatsu_thunder (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 8:01 am

    The problem with electric vehicles is range. A daily commute might be fine but if you need to go out of town, then you need an alternative means of transport. There’s a Smart electric drive being tested out by UK Police right now I believe.

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  • frossonice (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 8:52 am

    It is quite weird when some people just simply says it is a bad idea for Proton based electric car without any reason. Is Proton that bad?

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  • 4G63T DSM (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 9:30 am

    Good for them. Lets hope something good comes out of them.

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  • fighter_B2500 (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 9:34 am

    long live proton! thats brialliant move! shift to next phase of technology is the best solution for feul hike crisis.

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  • fighter_B2500 (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 9:34 am

    long live proton! thats brialliant move! shift to next phase of technology is the best solution for fuel hike crisis.

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  • ganz (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 9:37 am

    good move.. :D

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  • proud2BMalaysian (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 9:47 am

    it’s a good sign for proton, they are trusting proton’s chassis. we should give support to them. good or bad, the past is the past, we must look into the future of proton.

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  • rexis (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 9:56 am

    220 hp electrical motor and 550 km range? And a charging time of 3.5-10 hours? At only RM145,599? Sound too good to be true at even half the performance figure and double the price!

    If they can really make it a reality, they can technically start killing off petrol heads.

    Without any specs or any blueprints to show off, but a rebadged gen2. Make it even less convincing. If they don’t even have any prototype now, do you believe they can go into production by end of next year?

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  • raptorclans (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 10:12 am

    this is wonderful news man… Paul, do keep us updated :)

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  • Alifz (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 11:52 am

    I wonder how they going to reshape the gen-2 front…

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  • moonier (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 12:10 pm

    Proton + Detroit = Petroit

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  • Roti Naan (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 12:11 pm

    hahahaa……Proton current technology is too wayward behind. Judging from their previous progress and development on their cars, I say this would take 10 years plus to make it a reality, if the idea didn’t fizzle out or some dumb politicians screw up the whole programme.

    During the 10 years wait, my little boy-boy will aslo be in primary school in standard 6 oredi lor…..

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  • moonier (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 12:11 pm

    Detroit + Proton = Detron

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  • White Jack (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    haaaa…now we talk serious about electric car. Over the years, car makers have been spending time and money on useless (or over ambitious) feautres, mostly found on expensive cars. Many automatics, sensors, bla bla bla in a car, to add up cost, and to attract buyers. Many are just gimmicks and useless features. Some even cause troubles and make the car auto shut down. You can see some nice expensive cars stopby roadside waiting for tow truck bec of that.

    What I am trying to say.. dear car makers, spend you R&D on useful thing. Make electric car possible and economical. Should have started this seriously (I know Toyota, Honda started long time) on real mass production long time ago.

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  • rsrulz (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 1:10 pm

    I think it is a good idea but why can”t they call the car Proton?

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  • gonggok (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    Carmakers were always ready for electric cars – the batteries weren’t. Now thanks to the electronics industries – laptops, cellphones etc battery makers are spending tons of money on improving batteries. With the latest li-on batteries – the electric car in coming.

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  • ganz (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 1:48 pm

    rotinan..

    i don’t see any relationship between Proton and Detroit Electric on this..

    moonier.. it look like transformer name already.. megatron, :D

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  • JULIANLEE2 (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 3:04 pm

    this is worst than that stupid g-wiz

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  • paxter (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 3:33 pm

    thats kinda cheap for an electric car… wish the g if they are truly sincere about saving cost from oil make hybrid and electric cars free from import duty…. oh wait a min…. FK! import hybrids and electric cars will never be free from import duty now…. proton will sell their own versions (would that make it a proton rebadged to DE then rebadge to proton?)

    darn….

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  • BanyakMasukWorkshop (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 3:40 pm

    sounds like a great idea if this is true. options are what us consumers need. the more options the better.

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  • elpaciko (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 4:02 pm

    i wonder.. do some of the guys here really read the article?… it seems as long as there is a proton name in the headline, there is this urge to bash at all cost.

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  • BW (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 5:27 pm

    Lol actually i prefer reading updates on proton although i will bash them… just that i wanna see what our national car company gonna do….

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  • alihms (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 7:13 pm

    The effort by Youngman & Zap is good. But if you bother to do a little research on Zap, you’ll find the company is in suspect. Zap has been promising electric vehicles (ranging from tiny eco cars to fast supercars) since 2005 -but only manages to sell electric buggies. Even that is actually imported from China.

    It has been making a lot of promises but delivers little. Zap financial bottomline isn’t that great either.

    For more info.. see
    http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-04/ff_zapped?currentPage=1

    So guys… don’t hope too much!!!

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  • jolly_idiot (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 7:42 pm

    Will this means all it’s internal will not be by Proton anymore? If there’s a problem, should we bring it back to proton SC? Anyhow, it’s a great news since we are all moving towards electric car. But just wonder why is Proton? Just becoz if with proton can giv lower price?

    Btw. The guy look like Hong Kong TVB actor Joe Ma. Haha

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  • mystvearn (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 8:15 pm

    If it works, Proton might bring back the technology and fit on their current cars and sell cheaper.
    Another problem is how to balik kampung if you stay like 700 km away.Obviously need to find a hotel with plug ready. Just plug into hotel room, free fuel.haha

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  • claxxion (Member) on Jun 26, 2008 at 9:51 pm

    I was wondering, how do we actually charge the car? Do we need an electric outlet outside the house? If it rains then what would happen? haha

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  • Roti Naan (Member) on Jun 27, 2008 at 1:19 am

    if rain, it will go sot-sot…

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  • KelvC (Member) on Jun 27, 2008 at 10:04 am

    I’ve just read the article a few times to understand the underlining meaning:

    1. The Detroit Electric (DE) co is a JV between ZAP and China’s Youngman.
    2. Youngman is currently buying CBU Proton units (i.e. Savvy, Gen2, etc) with contractual plans to undertake CKD kits once the initial exploratory CBU units are sold into the Chinese market.
    3. Since Youngman will be bringing in CKD units, Youngman could probably have an addendum to existing contract (if this is not already in the agreement) for Proton to make available chasis/body shell to Youngman via CKD. This body shell will then be fitted with DE’s electric engine.
    4. I would interpret this overall venture as Proton as having no direct involvement with DE.
    5. Proton sells car to Youngman “cheap-cheap” and Youngman sells back car on DE engine with handsome margin (sounds like Malaysia’s petrol scenario).
    6. Proton sells green friendly engine to Malaysia and, in current petrol price with possible price spike, comes out like a national savior. Everybody wins…”hooray”.

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  • xxrrxx2002 (Member) on Jun 27, 2008 at 2:54 pm

    Yeah, when fully charged, the electric proton cars will zap all proton-bashers to smithereens! Oblivion! The best part is, all bashers have an iron rod stuffed inside their arse. No wonder the all incoherent bulls muttered by ’em.

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  • king_jamez (Member) on Jun 27, 2008 at 3:14 pm

    it’s great that these electric motor concept came up but wit those price tag i would definitely think twice before buying…instead of saving money on petrol it burns a deep hole in our pocket to buy the car…btw y choose p1 as base??

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  • topgunthang (Member) on Jun 27, 2008 at 4:38 pm

    if its so easy for a china company/malaysian company team up to do this, then merc, bmw, toyota and honda wouldnt need to waste so much effort in developing hybrids and hydrogen cars for so long. toyota and honda thailand can shut thier plants already.
    but nevermind….alot of china people and malaysians are gullible. much like the legendary hydroxene debacle of which most malaysians have already forgotten. even the prime minister was ‘wowed’ by this technology and had to come show his face. turns out it was just a pyramid scheme or some show to siphon investors money if anyone was stupid enough to do that.

    dont forget every car company in the world would already have some sort of blue print to install electric motors in the car. i beleive there are also some self install kits available to supplement current common cars if im not wrong was last years news. youngman and zap and proton problably just piggybacked on this idea and have the guts to call it thier ‘technology’.

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  • munky (Member) on Jun 27, 2008 at 10:05 pm

    why electric ? Isnt hydrogen (fuel cell) the better technology ?

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  • ezralimm (Member) on Jun 27, 2008 at 11:24 pm

    KelvC said, (June 27, 2008 @ 10:04 am)
    I’ve just read the article a few times to understand the underlining meaning:

    4. I would interpret this overall venture as Proton as having no direct involvement with DE.
    5. Proton sells car to Youngman “cheap-cheap” and Youngman sells back car on DE engine with handsome margin (sounds like Malaysia’s petrol scenario).

    ______________________________________________

    Good distillation. Just note that point #5 above is pure speculation, conjecture and pseudo opinion. Even the reference to the petrol scenario is way off. In depth discussion/information here (http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/513136)

    There is only one thing that i’d like to comment:

    THESE CARS ARE _NOT_ PROTONS.

    Proton may have licensed their designs / platform to Youngman, but the cars are basically not proton cars.

    The Holden Barina is a rebadged Daewoo, and is essentially a Daewoo car.

    The new Youngman/Zap electric vehicles probably have completely reworked drivetrains. They just used the proton shell and platform to save on development costs. Why reinvent the wheel when you have access to other suitable wheels?

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  • topgunthang (Member) on Jun 29, 2008 at 2:47 am

    because no one in the world has developed fuel cell conversion or add on kits yet. therefore proton or china cannot ‘develope’ fuel cell cars.

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