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NEWS
SHANGHAI MOTOR SHOW: Detroit Electric launches SP:01 sports EV
Reborn Detroit Electric officially launches its first product in more than 70 yearsThe Detroit Electric SP:01, a two-seat sportster first announced just weeks ago, has staked its claim as the world’s fastest pure electric production sports car.
Revealed at the Shanghai motor show, the SP:01 accelerates from zero to 100km/h in just 3.7 seconds and achieves a top speed of nearly 250km/h.
Although the Shanghai reveal marks the official world debut, Detroit Electric has been taking orders since early April. It says it took more than 35 firm orders within an hour of going on sale at a starting price of $US135,000. The first finished car is set to come off the company’s Wayne County, Michigan production line in August.
The company has poured plenty of R&D money into maximising power-to-weight ratio. It uses a lightweight 37kWh lithium-polymer battery pack to power a compact, mid-mounted electric motor. Output is rated at a fairly modest 150kW/225Nm, but carbon fibre bodywork helps keep total weight down to just 1068kg, allowing for blistering performance and a range the company claims exceeds 300km.
Helping out in every way is a choice of multispeed transmissions – a standard four-speed manual with the option of a fifth, or an optional two-speed auto. These are purely for performance, the company says. The motor has enough flexibility to make their use optional.
Inside, the SP:01’s Smartphone Application Managed Infotainment (SAMI) system uses phone apps to manage functions like the music player, satellite navigation, interior lighting and vehicle systems information, the latter including battery charge and remaining range. Connected to a GSM network, it can also be used for remote functions like locating the car, switching on climate control and checking charge levels.
Detroit Electric claims a charge time of around 4.3 hours using the 240V/32A home charger that comes with the car. This unit also gives a glimpse into a future where EVs can be used not just for transport but for ancillary power storage. The company’s patented bi-directional “360 Powerback” system allows users to hitch the car up to the unit and discharge its power for household use during blackouts.
Detroit Electric carved itself a notable niche in the first half of the 20th century with a series of all-electric vehicles that sold reasonably well around the Great War years and into the 1920s, before dying in the rush of enthusiasm for the internal combustion engine.
After more than three decades, the name was laid to rest in 1939. Now, exhumed and defibrillated by former Lotus Engineering chief Albert Lam, its time has come once again. Mr Lam and his company have already declared that SP:01 heralds the beginning of a new range of all-electric models.
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Written byJeremy Bass
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