Detroit Electric takes in over $500 million in investment
There is a new sign of life from Detroit Electric: electric vehicle manufacturer EV Electra has announced an investment of over 500 million US dollars in the acquisition of a majority stake in Detroit Electric. The last time the British company was heard from was in 2019.
At the time, the Millbrook-based company was said to be having money problems, and we have also not heard anything since then about the three electric cars by 2021 announced in 2017. Now EV Electra is announcing an investment of the equivalent of €437 million in Detroit Electric, which will enable the company to “expand its operations in Europe and Asia, with the goal of launching multiple electric and hydrogen-electric hybrid models over the next five years”.
EV Electra says it is a car manufacturer with operations in Lebanon, Germany, Canada and the Netherlands and aims to build battery-powered electric vehicles. The “main production and research facilities” are to be located in Lebanon.
Regarding Detroit Electric, an accompanying statement said the team has spent the last four years working on a vehicle platform with next-generation hydrogen-electric hybrid technology and is now ready to move on to the next stage of its expansion plans. “We are proud to secure this new round of investment which will fuel the next stage of our growth,” said Albert Lam, Group CEO of Detroit Electric. “Apart from our continuous focus on battery-powered vehicles – hydrogen hybrid will also be an essential component of our drive technology. Our team has been working hard on several innovative technologies to offer customers a choice of pure electric and hydrogen electric hybrid models.”
The British company says they will use the fresh capital to expand their engineering teams in Europe and Asia. It said it was still relying on contract manufacturing to build its planned electric vehicles. Over the next five years, Detroit Electric “aims to launch a number of new models ranging from an SUV to a sedan to a roadster.”
Detroit Electric Group was founded in 2008 and attracted attention a few years ago primarily with the SP:01 electric roadster. According to the company, it now holds 900 technology patents, which are to be incorporated into the partnership with EV Electra. The communication does not specify exactly how the cooperation between the two sides will be structured in the future.
0 Comments