Australian startup presents electric cargo van ACE EV
The Australian Clean Energy Electric Vehicle Group (ACE EV) has presented their first battery-electric vehicle at the Tonsley Innovation District in Adelaide. One hundred cars are to be produced while the company acquires further funding.
The electric cargo van was presented at a former Mitsubishi plant, with a smidgen of irony, and is planned to be the first of many. ACE EV intends to ramp up production to around 15,000 per year by 2025. The production chain is designed to be set up reasonably locally in Australia. Greg McGarvie, managing director, adds his “ambition is to work at it until at least 50 per cent of the car comes from South Australia”.
Currently, many of the components are produced in China, before assembly in Australia, and ACE EV will work in cooperation with truck body makers Aldom Motor from 2020 before ramping up. The company is planning to release three models, starting with the van.
The ACE Cargo has a range around 200 km and a carrying capacity of 500 kg. The electric motor delivers a continuous output of 18 kW and can reach up to 45 kW if needed, making for a max torque of 174 Nm and a humble top speed of 100 km/h. A 23.2 kWh battery pack delivers support. While no official price has been released yet, the target is in the realm between $27,000 – $32,500 (AU$40,000 – AU$48,000) for the moment.
A small series of 100 electric vehicles is planned to start the company, but ACE EV is already working on acquiring the $5 million for the next funding tranche to set up volume production lines.
The startup has more models in the pipeline, namely a small electric car called ACE Urban and an electric pickup called the ACE Yewt. The vehicle’s name here is decidedly Australian: What the Americans call a pickup, the Australians call a “ute” short for “utility vehicle” and in this case, changed to the phonetic spelling, Yewt. The technical data is identical to the ACE EV electric van.
Additional reporting by Nora Manthey.
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