Detroit Electric, an international electric vehicle manufacturer based in Detroit, is in the final stages of testing its all-electric sports car in Europe, as it prepares to bring the two-seater, rear-wheel-drive vehicle to market next June.
The SP:01 will have a top speed of 155 mph, and will go from 0-62 mph in approximately 3.7 seconds, making it one of the world’s fastest pure electric production cars, say company officials.
Last year, a pre-production version of the open-top sports car was revealed in Detroit and Shanghai. Since the media unveiling, the engineers and designers at Detroit Electric have put in additional development work to the SP:01 design.
The SP:01 will be a limited-edition model with only 999 vehicles to be built.
Company officials say sales and production plans, as well as more car design details will be revealed in the upcoming weeks.
IN OTHER AUTOMOTIVE NEWS, TRW Automotive Holdings, based in Livonia, has launched a new seat belt retractor, the Floating Spool 1, which is a condensed version of previous designs.
“Our new FS1 technology weighs approximately 15 percent less than the previous generation, making it a more environmentally friendly product that can help automobile manufacturers meet emissions and fuel economy targets,” says Aziz Canatar, global engineering director of TRW Seat Belt Systems. “In addition, the smaller retractor offers significant packaging advantages and greater installation options.”
The new technology will be put in production in the second quarter of 2014, with several vehicle manufacturers in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America.