Kalashnikov launches electric car

Yes, you read that right, the maker of the world's deadliest assault rifle has its sights set on Tesla

It's estimated that there are over 75 million AK47s in the world, a number equal to one fifth of the planet's entire cache of firearms. But despite owning the rights to such a lucrative product - even 70 years after its creation, it still enjoys a 20 per cent share of the market - manufacturer Kalashnikov is looking to diversify.

To help it in this quest it has announced the CV-1, a battery-powered electric car which, in true Kalashnikov fashion, is based on a decades-old Soviet design. Unveiled at this week's International Military Technical Forum (alongside a manned, 4.5 tonne, bipedal military robot named Igorek, because Russia) the CV-1 takes its cues from the Izh 2125 Combi a 1.5-litre, 70hp machine first produced in 1973.

Unlike its forebear, however, the CV-1 will use modular battery technology and a "revolutionary inverter" design for an output of around 300hp and a range of 217 miles.

"This technology will let us stand in the ranks of global electric car producers such as Tesla and be their competitor" the company stated. If it's half as successful as Kalashnikov's most infamous creation, it'll do far more than that.