Thursday 4th April 2013

Detroit Electric and Tesla step up

New roadster revealed by Detroit Electric, while Tesla discusses its next two-seater

---

Electric start-up Detroit Electric has finally revealed its first product, the SP:01 – a two-seat electric roadster based on the Lotus Elise. We were first given an idea that the SP:01 was on its way back in March, when DE gave us the first teaser image of the new car; now, full details and proper pictures have finally been released.

SP:01's Elise underpinnings are clear

What’s immediately obvious, and perhaps more so than in its Tesla rival’s lines, is the Lotus backbone of the new car. Its Elise roots are barely hidden – perhaps no surprise, as DE’s CEO Albert Lam was formerly a Lotus chief. Under the skin, though, it’s all change, with a 204hp electric motor that delivers 166lb ft of torque and a 0-62mph time of just 3.7 seconds. DE also claims that its range will exceed 180 miles.

Unlike the Tesla, however, the SP:01 will feature a manual transmission with four ratios for “optimal acceleration” – although it does add that “there is little need to change gear regularly to ensure brisk progress”. The body, meanwhile, will feature an aluminium platform and carbon fibre bodywork, with the result that weight will be kept down to just 1,067kg. You’ll have to really, really want one, though, as just 999 will be built, each costing $135,000 – a shade under £90,000 at today’s exchange rate.

Next Tesla will "push the envelope"

Detroit Electric will represent the first direct rival to Tesla, which so far has had the electric roadster market to itself. So it’s no surprise that on the morning of the SP:01’s unveiling, Tesla has also revealed some details of its next roadster. Talking to Autocar, Tesla’s vice president of sales & ownership experience, George Blankenship, said that the next-generation Roadster will “push the envelope beyond what anybody else is doing”. To this end, he cited increased range, beyond the 200 miles of the first-generation car, and a 0-62mph time of well below four seconds.

The next roadster will arrive in about five years time, after Tesla has established the Model S and Model X, by which time, Blankenship added, the company hopes to have a presence in the UK with a dealership in London.

[Sources: Detroit Electric; Autocar]

[anonymous-user]

Seems decent enough I just think they're all overpriced.

[GTRene]

personally I like that SP01 more then the Tesla.







more pictures>>

http://www.autoweek.nl/nieuws/22900/detroit-electr...

[cookie1600]

Well good news for Lotus then. With all the Detroit Electric and Hennessey sales, they should double turnover this year...

[herebebeasties]

That's 170kg lighter than the Tesla Roadster. I wonder how they've managed to achieve that?

[JaguarsportXJR]

herebebeasties said:

That's 170kg lighter than the Tesla Roadster. I wonder how they've managed to achieve that?

Less batteries perhaps? Range is 10% lower after all.

[PhilJames]

With 100% tax write off, no congestion charge and no hefty fuel duty, you could shave off a huge saving from the £90k price if you were a business customer.
I suspect there are other cost reductions due to it being 100% electric, like VAT (sales tax)?

It also has a genuinely useful 180 mile range over the 50 mile range from the Tesla and there isn't much to argue about with the same platform and arguably better looks from Detroit.

[GTRene]

Indeed...
don't look at the to buy price alone.

[anonymous-user]

So now the world has a choice! Between two virtually identical overpriced poorly performing impractical cars...... ;-(


Surely, the challange is to make one of these for say £35k. Do that, and it has legs, until then it's a mere distraction from the main game. (Why Lotus themselves haven't explored this avenue i have no idea)

[zebedee]

The Crack Fox said:

You must really love the environment

AND believe that car emissions are as bad as people say they are... (is there any actual scientific proof yet?) I thought the Daily Mail had debunked the myth, or claimed to have, but unfortunately I dislike them so strongly that I can't bring myself to read it.

[kambites]

Unfortunately the term "scientific proof" it in itself not really well defined. It's pretty much impossible to conclusively prove anything in the natural sciences.

[B10]

JaguarsportXJR said:

herebebeasties said:

That's 170kg lighter than the Tesla Roadster. I wonder how they've managed to achieve that?

Less batteries perhaps? Range is 10% lower after all.

FEWER!!!

[coogy]

Theres even an indent on the bonnet for where the Lotus badge is supposed to go...

[Captain Muppet]

Max_Torque said:

Surely, the challange is to make one of these for say £35k. Do that, and it has legs, until then it's a mere distraction from the main game. (Why Lotus themselves haven't explored this avenue i have no idea)

I think they have, but it runs on petrol. That seems to be the compromise you have to live with to get the cost down.

[kambites]

Captain Muppet said:

Max_Torque said:

Surely, the challange is to make one of these for say £35k. Do that, and it has legs, until then it's a mere distraction from the main game. (Why Lotus themselves haven't explored this avenue i have no idea)

I think they have, but it runs on petrol. That seems to be the compromise you have to live with to get the cost down.

For the moment, yes. Prices of electric cars are coming down though.

[Rakoosh]

LOL!

To be fair - its going to take a long time before electric cars are produced in the numbers of petrol ones to get the economy of scale to make it cheap.

Its a start and its a show case for what they can do. It would not even surprise me if at that price they barely make any money on the car (or even if they sold it at a loss).

The performance figures are VERY impressive, if true...

They are unashamedly following the business model/plan that Tesla did - and it sounds like it might work for the latter so whats wrong with a bit of copy cat here?

And maybe they think they can do it better?

Captain Muppet said:

I think they have, but it runs on petrol. That seems to be the compromise you have to live with to get the cost down.

[kambites]

Tesla sold a surprising number of Roadsters for about the same money.

[norty]

Sorry, at risk of sounding evangelical I just want to respond to a couple of earlier posts which perpetuate some misinformation.

I easily get 150 miles in my 3 year old Tesla Roadster in the real world, even before being topped up if required (it recharges quickest when battery is low). I certainly would not describe the performance as poor, sub 4 seconds to the speed limit sees off most cars on the road, before it gets illegal. When they do pass it is in a cloud of unburnt fuel spewing from the exhaust. In speed camera central I fail to see the compromise in this over other 2 seater sportscars, except perhaps for those few who actually travel long distances in their 458 or Gallardo.

I spent 12 years in Hong Kong, I left in large part because of the pollution, much of which is caused by filthy diesel vehicles in HK. An IC engine, particularly a diesel, kicks out small particulates which are the worst for getting deep into the lungs, no different to smoking.

[71tuscan]

zebedee said:

The Crack Fox said:

You must really love the environment

AND believe that car emissions are as bad as people say they are... (is there any actual scientific proof yet?) I thought the Daily Mail had debunked the myth, or claimed to have, but unfortunately I dislike them so strongly that I can't bring myself to read it.

AND believe that batteries last forever.
AND deny that,solar panels cost more energy to produce, than what they will ever generate.
AND forget that every wind generator is actually a few tonnes of cadmium, etc. , etc.
AND forget that the fuel burnt for bringing all resources for the batteries together, producing them, and shipping them again to the factory is about as much as what the car would consume during half of it's life cycle, if it had a petrol engine.

If cars were to have external energy generation, the only possible solution could be compressed air.
No heavy (dirty!) batteries to haul everywhere you go, easy to convert existing cars, more familiar sound and power delivery, lower weight, safe, etc.

[kambites]

You can't get an Elise that'll do 0-60 in under 4 seconds for 30k. The closest you'll get is the Exige V6 which costs 50k+. Still a fair old difference in price, but not quite as great as you make out. I doubt you'll average much over 25mpg from one either.

You'd still have to cover a lot of miles for a normal driver to break even, but it might be viable for someone who drives in London a lot.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 4th April 14:34

[ewenm]

norty said:

I spent 12 years in Hong Kong, I left in large part because of the pollution, much of which is caused by filthy diesel vehicles in HK. An IC engine, particularly a diesel, kicks out small particulates which are the worst for getting deep into the lungs, no different to smoking.

That's the big advantage of urban electric vehicles to me. Ignore all the CO2 rubbish and concentrate on cleaner urban living environments. Yes, the polution still happens somewhere but far fewer people live near power stations than live in cities.