Reconstituted Detroit Electric Says It will Build EVs in Malaysia
By John O'Dell September 2, 2008
A Dutch company called Detroit Electric but owned by a longtime British auto industry executive, says it plans to start building electric cars, buses and trucks with a Malaysian partner next year.
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Malaysian journalists take a Proton-bodied car with Detroit Electric's drive system for a spin.
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Albert Lam, former chief executive of Lotus Engineering and now chairman, chief executive and majority owner of Detroit Electric, told reporters in Malaysia that his company is negotiating with Malaysia's national automaker, Proton (which owns Lotus), to build the zero-emission vehicles.
He said he also was in discussions with an American automaker and a German car company, but declined to identify them.
An Associated Press report reprinted in numerous U.S. newspapers including the Detroit Free Press, quotes Lam as saying the initial car would cost about $24,000 and would use lithium-ion batteries and a powerful new lightweight electric motor developed by Detroit Electric.
Lam said that the company plans to build 30,000 vehicles next year and to ramp up to 270,000 a year by 2011.
Detroit Electric is a familiar name to many in the U.S. - the company was founded in 1907 in Detroit and produced electric vehicles (right)
until it went under in 1939.
The name was resurrected earlier this year by Northern California electric vehicle distributor Zap and Chinese automaker China Youngman Automotive Group.
But both relinquished ownership to Lam and his investors late last month in separate deals.
Zap said it had traded its position in Detroit Electric for $750,000 and exclusive North American distribution rights to its cars.
Lam, who also is a member of ZAP's board of directors, showed off his company's electric drive-train in a trio of cars - a sedan, a subcompact and a sports car -- at Proton's test track in Malaysia.
The test vehicles used other manufacturers' car bodies but Lam told reporters that Detroit Electric, backed by a group of American, Dutch and Malaysian investors, will design and build its own vehicles for production.
John O'Dell, Senior Editor
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