After showing practically no signs of life since being revived in a joint venture between Zap! and Youngman Automotive Group last February and officially striking out on its own less than a week ago, Detroit Electric has emerged, in Malaysia, as a Dutch company with $300 million in backing and a fleet of prototypes. Say what? We had a hint of this earlier but this seems to make it all official. The company, reportedly majority owned by CEO Albert Lam (Lam joined Zap! management late last year) has investors from America, Holland and Malaysia and appears to have taken over the Electric Cars Europe venture. The Malaysian appearance was a press event held to announce their plans to begin producing cars by the end of 2009.

We couldn't be there, but Paul Tan of PaulTan.org automotive blog fame was and he did a little ride-and-drive and took some pics. The sportiest of the the wares on hand was an electric Lotus Elise that we last saw circling a track in the Netherlands although now it sports "Detroit Electric" decals on its hood and doors. There was also a Proton Savvy (pictured above) and a Proton Persona. The pair of Protons were fast and wet conversions put together for the event and sported motors developed by Detroit Electric's chief scientist, Frits van Breemen-Schneider. An avid RC aircraft enthusiast who sells electric model aircraft and was co-president of Friend-EV, he claims his motors have a much higher power-to-weight ratio than existing tech and can produce 5 kilowatts of power per kilogram, adding that the best electric car of today are only capable of .25 kilowatts per kilogram. This is a bizarre claim, and either the International Herald Tribune made a mistake in quoting him or something because, at .25kw/kg the Tesla motor with 185 kw would weigh 1,628lbs.

Whatever the deal is with the motors, Detroit Electric is aiming sky high with a target of 30,000 cars in the first year and growing that to 270,000 by the third. As well as a Detroit Electric facility in Malaysia, the company hopes to work with the government to have a fast-charge network installed across the country. Press release after the break.

[Source: PaulTan.org / International Herald Tribune]

We recently told you about the Kentucky Senate side-show in which Democrats and Republicans both tried to get legislation started that would make it legal for low-speed vehicles (LSVs) to drive on some roads in the bluegrass state. Now, Governor Steve Beshear has stepped in and signed an executive order that allows LSVs on roads with speed limits of 45 mph or less. Why would he do this? To encourage ZAP! to locate a factory there, of course. While a few weeks ago ZAP! had said there were no "formal conversations" about locating a manufacturing facility there, it certainly appears differently now. First clue: ZAP CEO Steve Schneider was on hand for the signing ceremony and took the governor for a spin in a Xebra afterward. Second clue: At that same event, Beshear also announced that state officials will work "hourly and daily" with ZAP!, a local businessmen Larry Cottingham and Randall Waldman, CEO of Integrity Manufacturing of Bullitt County to develop an incentive package to secure the building of the plant in Kentucky. Hit the jump for lots more news plus bonus video.

*Update: Added video of Governor Beshear's announcement and ensuing press conference.


[Source: McClatchy / Business First / Courier-Journal / SMASHgods]

The Malaysian government has given the green light to national car maker Proton to begin "in-depth validation and testing" of electric cars. The announcement came after the Cabinet Committee on Inflation received a briefing on the role e-cars can have in reducing the consumption of petrol and diesel. Prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who seemed to be completely behind the idea, expressed hope that commercialization of the project could begin in a years time. As part of the announcement, the politician went for a ride in an electric Lotus Elise converted and supplied by Dutch company, Electric Cars Europe (ECE). Interestingly, Detroit Electric was named, along with PRO Dis-T, as one of the companies that Proton would be working with to "fine-tune" the car. In a somewhat convoluted web of alliances, Detroit Electric is a joint venture between Chinese firm, Youngman Automotive Group and ZAP! which is headed by Albert Lam, formerly of Lotus, which is owned by Proton. Youngman currently rebadges the Proton GEN2 as the Europestar RCR for the Chinese market. Also, Electric Cars Europe, as we recently informed you, has plans to bring ZAP/Detroit Electric vehicles, including the famous Alias, to the European market. It wasn't stated which model Proton would be initially using for the project but the ECE website shows the Savvy (pictured above) as one of the models it has targeted for production in 2009. We await further announcements to make the room stop spinning.

[Source: The New Straits Times / PaulTan.org]

A consortium of Dutch companies under the banner of Electric Cars Europe have decided a little collaboration is in order to help speed up the implementation of electric cars in the Netherlands. With a vision of seeing 26 per cent of Dutch cars powered by electrons by 2025, the consortium's plan has several parts, the first of which involves some conversion of several Lotus Elise vehicles to an electric drivetrain by partner company, Innosys Engineering. Isn't it a little strange how Lotus has become the "go to" company when you want to build, or even just convert, an electric sports car these days? But I digress.

The next order of business is to take €100 million already invested and metamorphose a couple hundred Volkswagen Golfs from liquid fuel to solid state. All of these vehicles, as well as some future models, are to be monitored by energy company, Essent, as part of large-scale testing of their "Mobile Smart Grid." This is a "smart" distribution system that will make the move to electric personal transportation more feasible by tracking how much power you need and when you need it. It can also bill you for what you use regardless of where you plug in.

To read about a somewhat surprising twist to their next phase as well as test your working knowledge of Dutch and watch some electric Lotus Elise action, hit the jump. As an extra bonus we've also tagged on an extra video from Innosys Engineering that shows off what they've accomplished to the syncopated rhythms of a funky soundtrack.

* Added another video showing more of the orange Elise on the track

ZAP has proven to be an excellent company when it comes to issuing press releases. They have also offered some nice products in the past, like the Zappy line of scooters. For some, the Xebra (see gallery below) fits their needs quite nicely, and for those people, ZAP is a fine company. For the rest of us, the chances that the ZAP X SUV, ZAP Alias or Detroit Electric brand ever get off the ground seems awfully slim.


Let's check out Number 19.

Click on the image for more shots

Here we have an electric car which is not an electric car. When the current owner got the car, is was stripped of its motor, batteries and other assorted bits. For that reason, in went a Ford 2.8 liter V6, meaning that the vehicle you see here is a Detroit Electric in name only. The vehicle has gone through a complete overhaul, with a new custom chassis underpinning the aluminum body. While it's not uncommon to see a previously gasoline-powered vehicle converted to electric, we collectively shed a tear that this particular piece of motoring history is no longer powered by electrons. It's a bit ironic that the seller points out the good gas mileage of the small V6 engine. Thanks for the tip, Dad!


[Source: eBay Motors]

I truly enjoyed reading this article on Winding Road about the largest existing collection of early electric cars in existence. The owner of the vehicles is James Cousens, and he is a true aficionado of the genre. The early market for electric cars was primarily for women married to well-to-do men, who could afford to make a purchase of this magnitude for their wives. For instance, the 1912 Baker Electric Special Extension Coupe which resides in the collection cost $2,700 at the time, which equals about $57,000 in today's funds.

Cousens explains that each of the electric cars in his collection are pretty comparable to the Neighborhood Electric Vehicles that are available for purchase today, with a speed of about 35 miles per hour and a range of 40-50 miles on a single charge. Fancy electronics were not available at that time, so the throttle of the early electric cars relied on engaging or disengaging additional contacts on the electric motor. If you are familiar with radio controlled cars, this is kind of like the manual speed controllers that sometimes come with the least expensive kits. With this type of system, the cars should be most efficient at roughly top speed. The cars all use deep-cycle lead-acid batteries like the ones that are used in golf carts today.

The article is a highly entertaining read, so I recommend that you take a look!

[Source: Winding Road]