Detroit Electric unveils high-tech electric sportster

Just weeks after announcing its reincarnation, US EV specialist Detroit Electric has pulled the wraps off its first product.

Dubbed SP:01, the compact two-seat sportster is designed to trumpet the reprise of the century-old Detroit Electric name with a sharp, potent technology statement with 21st Century automotive values.

To that end, the company has come up with what it claims is the world’s fastest pure-electric production car.

The brainchild of former Lotus Engineering Group CEO Albert Lam, the car will be limited to 999 units, priced from $US135,000.

The first car is set to roll off the company’s Wayne County, Michigan production line in August.

The SP:01 has already raised eyebrows for its exterior similarity to Lotus’s Elise/Exige line, and to the trailblazing EV that platform spawned, the Tesla Roadster.

But if Detroit Electric’s press material is anything to go by, it has plenty of unique selling propositions of its own.

Lam, now Detroit Electric’s Chairman and Group CEO, described the car as not just a milestone in the history of the Detroit Electric brand, but also a significant development for the international EV sector.

“[SP:01] will allow us to demonstrate to the world our ability to build an exciting and innovative product, one that displays outstanding performance coupled with strong green credentials, and which delivers an exhilarating driving experience,” he said in a statement.

The car brings to the EV sector some of the spirit Colin Chapman brought to Lotus in the company’s long-time mantra of “performance through lightweight”.

The SP:01’s compact, mid-mounted electric motor gets its power from a lightweight lithium-polymer battery pack rated at 37kWh.

Wrapped in carbon-fibre bodywork, the whole package weighs in at just 1068kg.

The result is very Lotus: just as the Elise manages to extract blistering performance from a modified Toyota Corolla engine, Detroit Electric claims a 0-100km/h sprint in 3.7 seconds and a top speed of 250km/h from a comparatively modest 150kW and 225Nm.

This it attributes in part to its use of multi-speed transmissions – a standard four-speed manual with the option of a fifth, or an optional two-speed auto. The company’s press material says these are purely to optimise acceleration.

With full-torque available instantly, “…unlike a manual shift in a conventional car, there is little need to change gear regularly to ensure brisk progress.”

It’s claiming the news is good on range, too, with calculations from NEDC testing rating it at 304km.

Indoors, the leather-lined cockpit boasts what the company claims is an industry-first: an infotainment system driven by smartphone apps.

Dubbed ‘SAMI’ (Smartphone Application Managed Infotainment system), the system “provides access to a wide range of functions, including music player, satellite-navigation, interior lighting adjust and vehicle systems status – such as the level of battery charge, range to recharge and other vehicle telemetry. It can, of course, also be used to make mobile phone calls.”

Connected to a GSM network, it can also be used as a remote vehicle locator, climate-control switch and charge checker.

Charging time is a claimed 4.3 hours using high-voltage rapid charge systems, or up to 10.7 hours using a standard 220-volt EU outlet. The press material omits what happens when it’s hitched up to a 110-volt US outlet, but the car comes with a 240V/32A home charger.

And it’s this home charging unit that gives rise to the company’s biggest exercise in future-think, via the battery pack’s bi-directional charge and discharge capability.

Hitching it up to the company’s patented “360 Powerback” home-charging and backup unit effectively turns the car into a big portable energy storage system for uses beyond powering itself.

For example, during power blackouts it allows the owner, using SAMI, to tell a connected car to restore power to the premises until the grid reactivates, after which it recharges itself.

“360 Powerback is the next level of innovation and shows our determination to provide additional value proposition through our EVs, uniquely elevating us from others in the segment,” said Lam.

Unfortunately, the company is yet to confirm right-hand drive availability.

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