A few weeks ago, you saw here exclusively the first teaser of the new limited edition electric two-seat sports car from the car manufacturer that hasn't build a car for over 70 years, Detroit Electric. It seems that they were serious because they have just introduced the SP:01.
The North American company was revived in 2008 by Albert Lam, former Group CEO of the Lotus Engineering Group and Executive Director of Lotus Cars of England, and Don Graunstadt who also works for Detroit Electric, is also a former Lotus employee. So it is with no surprise that we find out that the chassis they use in the SP:01 are supplied by Lotus.
The Lotus platform didn't need any changes since it can handle up to 406PS (400hp or 298kW). Detroit Electric also kept the fully independent double-wishbone suspension, front and rear, with a front anti-roll bar, but they did change the Eibach coil springs and
Bilstein damper rates, besides the new brake discs. 282mm (11.3 inch) ventilated and cross-drilled discs are used with AP (front) and Brembo (rear) calipers.
This two-seat, rear-wheel-drive, open-top sports car has an electric motor and a battery mounted in the middle of the car. the body is completely made out of carbon fiber, but unfortunately it looks too much like a Lotus.
An air-cooled, asynchronous AC electric motor develops 204PS (201hp or 150kW) and 225Nm (166lb/ft) of torque, which in turn is connected to a four speed manual gearbox. All that power, together with a low curb weight of 1090kg (2403lb), gives the 3880mm long sports car a top speed of 250km/h (155mph) and a 0 to 100km/h (62mph) sprint time of 3.7 seconds.
The gearbox comes from the donor car (Lotus) that had 6 speeds, but the last two were blocked. According to Detroit Electric they were redundant, but if you want you can have the fifth gear or choose the Twinspeed automatic transmission (two-speed powershift
transmission).
The lithium polymer battery has a power rating of 37 kWh and gives the car a range of 288km (180 miles). When connected to a 240V and 32A power source the battery can be fully charged in just 4,3 hours. It will take 8 hours if you only have a 13A power source.
Production starts in in August 2013 with a starting price of €101.500 ($130.000 or £85.500) and only 999 cars will be built at Detroit Electric’s new plant in Wayne County, Michigan.
