Detroit Electric SP.01

The Detroit Electric SP.01 is a proposed battery electric vehicle designed by the Detroit Electric company and originally unveiled to the media in Detroit[1] and then publicly at the Shanghai Motor Show in 2013.[2] It is powered by an air-cooled lithium polymer battery.

Detroit Electric SP.01
Overview
ManufacturerDetroit Electric
Productionprototype only
Model years2013
Body and chassis
Body style2-door roadster
Layoutrear-wheel drive
PlatformLotus Exige
Powertrain
Electric motor210kW
Battery37 kWh lithium-polymer battery
Electric range180 mi (290 km) ((NEDC)
Dimensions
Length3,880 mm (152.8 in)
Width1,751 mm (68.9 in)
Height1,117 mm (44.0 in)
Kerb weight1,155 kg (2,546 lb)

It formally launched in the UK in 2017 as a production ready model, but never progressed beyond prototype stage.

History

The original Detroit Electric was an electric car model produced by the Anderson Electric Car Company in Detroit, Michigan, from 1907 to 1939.

The marque was revived in 2008 by Albert Lam, former Group CEO of the Lotus Engineering Group and executive director of Lotus Cars of England.[3] to produce modern all-electric cars by Detroit Electric Holding Ltd. of the Netherlands.[4][5]

Detroit Electric was relaunched to the world on 19 March 2013, with a press launch of its proposed new U.S. office in the Fisher Building in Detroit, Michigan[6] but the office deal was never concluded.[7]

In 2014 it emerged that a change of strategy relocated the proposed manufacturing if the SP01 to the UK[8] and testing of the prototypes continued in 2014.[9]

The SP.01 was relaunched again in 2017 following new investment from Far East Smarter Energy with $370 million for the European arm to homologate the car and prepare production in Leamington Spa.[10]

Detroit Electric received a $1.8 billion Chinese investment in 2017 with the goal of finally producing the SP.01.[11] The company ceased to make any further announcements after September 2017.[12] In 2019, Aston-Martin disclosed that a $25 million payment from Detroit Electric for tooling and design consultation had not been made, with little prospects of recovering it. By this point Detroit Electric was reported to be a Chinese company.[13]

Detroit Electric SP.01

The Detroit Electric SP.01[14] two-seat all-electric roadster is Detroit Electric's first product and sales were originally scheduled to begin in the United States in August 2013 at a price starting at US$135,000. Production was delayed because, as of August 2013, the company had not been able to secure an agreement for a manufacturing facility.[15] The SP.01, like the Tesla Roadster, was to be built on a Lotus Elise aluminum chassis with carbon fiber body, and production was to be limited to 999 units. The SP.01 prototypes are being assembled in Europe. The commercial version was to have been built at a factory in Wayne County, Michigan, but Detroit Electric announced it would initially be built in the Netherlands. In June 2014 Detroit Electric announced that the SP.01 would be built in Royal Leamington Spa, England, with their Netherlands facility handling the sales and marketing side of the operation.[16]

The SP.01 had a total weight of 2,354 lb (1,068 kg), a 150 kW (201 bhp) electric motor mounted behind the passenger cabin that delivers 225 N·m (166 lb-ft) of torque. The electric motor drives the rear wheels via a four-speed manual transmission, and a fifth and sixth gear ratios in the gearbox are redundant and available as an option. Top speed is 155 mph (249 km/h) and its time from 0 to 60 mph (0 to 100 km/h) is 3.7 seconds, the same as the Tesla Roadster. The electric car was to have a 37 kWh lithium-polymer battery pack capable of delivering a range of 180 mi (290 km) under the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) standard. A 7.7 kWh home charging unit would fully charge the car in 4.3 hours, a charging through a standard 13A power source would take 8 hours.[17][18]

The first production unit was exported to China in February 2016 to be used as a demonstrator.[19] Volume production was planned to begin at the Leamington works later in 2017, as the first of a series of Detroit Electric models.[20]

Technology

Unique to the SP.01 is its thermal management system, developed in-house by Detroit Electric. As opposed to liquid coolant, Detroit Electric has opted for conditioned air to cool and heat the battery pack as this not only lengthens the battery life, but also makes the entire drive system lighter and safer in the event of a crash. The SP.01 has a telemetry-link to the company's central portal for continuous monitoring of battery and powertrain condition.

An Android application, the Smartphone Application Managed Infotainment(‘SAMI’), was to provide access to all auxiliary functions ranging from music player, satellite navigation, regenerative braking adjustment and access to vehicle systems status, level of battery charge, range to recharge and other vehicle telemetry. Via GSM, SAMI would also be able to detect the vehicle location.

The SP.01 has bi-directional charging technology ('360 Powerback’) which can detect loss of inflow current and reverse feed to the home circuit.[9] Charging other electric vehicles is also made possible with 360 Powerback (i.e. vehicle to vehicle).

See also

References
  1. "Detroit Electric SP:01 sports car". Evo. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  2. "Detroit Electric SP:01 officially revealed". Auto Express. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  3. Detroit Electric: 10 things to know about the new electric vehicle company (MLive.com, March 20, 2013)
  4. Healey, James (19 March 2013). "New Detroit Electric plans battery sports car soon". USA Today. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  5. "Company Overview of Detroit Electric Holdings Ltd". Bloomberg Businessweek. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  6. "Detroit Electric Returns With World's Fastest Production EV, the SP:01". Popular Mechanics. 4 April 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  7. "Detroit Electric Stalls Production Plans, Fisher Building Headquarters Empty". The Truth About Cars. 27 August 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  8. "Detroit Electric re-emerges with UK production plant". Business Green. 27 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  9. "Detroit Electric SP:01 (2014) nears production. The next Tesla?". Car. 19 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  10. "Detroit Electric announces capital injection, SP:01 production starting soon". Evo. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  11. John Beltz Snyder (March 10, 2017). "Chinese investor's $1.8B breathes new life into Detroit Electric". Autoblog.
  12. "News Listings Page - Detroit Electric". detroit-electric-group.com. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
  13. Chris Bryant (August 12, 2019). "Aston Martin's $25M payout vanishes behind China EV startup's woes". Bloomberg Automotive News.
  14. "SP:01 Specifications". Archived from the original on 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
  15. Karl Henkel (2013-08-23). "Detroit Electric's production plans for new vehicle stalls". The Detroit News. Archived from the original on 2013-09-27. Retrieved 2013-08-25.
  16. Brad Anderson (30 June 2014). "Detroit Electric Confirms U.K Production for SP:01". www.gtspirit.com. GTspirit. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  17. Paul Stenquist (2013-04-01). "A New Electric Car With an Old Name". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  18. Detroit Electric Press Release (2013-04-01). "Detroit Electric unveils SP:01 two-seat electric sports car; 190-mile range on NEDC; V2H feature". Green Car Congress. Archived from the original on 2013-04-07. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  19. Kane, Mark (2016-02-27). "Irony: First Detroit Electric SP:01 Built In UK, Sold To China". InsideEVs.com. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  20. "PS300m Electric Car deNaewls Will Create 200 New Jobs; Sportscar Based on the Lotus Elise Will Have a Range of 180 Miles and a Top Speed of 155mph." Coventry Evening Telegraph (England). MGN Ltd. March 11, 2017.
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