Detroit Electric SP:01 Sports Car Nears Production

Detroit Electric is preparing to launch the SP:01 electric sports car that it promises will be the world’s fastest electric vehicle.

You might remember Detroit Electric revealing the Lotus Elise-based EV in April, 2013. At the time, it promised the car would run from 0-60 mph in 3.7 seconds with a 155-mph top speed. The sports car made a blip on the news radar and then disappeared until now. Today, the company said it is finishing “dynamic testing” for the SP:01 at a facility somewhere in Europe before production.

New details about the car weren’t released, but Detroit Electric promises that more information including the company’s production and sales plans will be announced soon. Previously, the company said it planned to limit production to 999 units that would be built in Holland with a price tag of $135,000.

Quite a bit of this might sounds familiar. After all, the Tesla Roadster accelerates to 60 mph in the same time as this car is supposed to. It also borrowed its body from the Lotus Elise. While it seems clear that Detroit Electric is trying to capitalize on the gap Tesla left by moving on to building the Model S sedan, it isn’t clear where the electric powertrain is coming from, but the company claimed last year that its car can travel almost 190 miles on a single charge.

Last year in Shanghai, the company said its sports car only weighs 2,354 lbs and that it uses a mid-mounted 201-hp electric motor that makes 66 lb-ft of torque. The body uses carbon fiber extensively, which plays a major role in how it manages to be so light. Detroit Electric also said it designed the car to offer two-way charging so that it can discharge electricity when connected to one of the company’s proprietary home charging stations. That way, the car is able to serve as an emergency power source.