Geely Automobile Group and Detroit Electric have announced a partnership to develop pure electric vehicles and drive systems for the Chinese market.
Chinese carmaker Geely will sell the cars under its brand Emgrand from 2014, the companies have chosen to base the pure EV to sell into the Chinese market upon Geely’s Emgrand EC7 model.
The car, called the EC7-EV, will be co-branded with Detroit Electric Technology. The companies have jointly predicted sales of 3000 units in the first year, growing to 30 000 in the next three years.
The teams have joined to develop the engineering on the EV powertrain including the electric motor, vehicle management system, advanced thermo-managed battery pack, battery management system and a twin-speed high-torque gearbox.
The EC7-EV will offer medium and long-range options, 165 km per charge to 258 km per charge and a top speed exceeding 200 km/h.
The manufacturing of components will largely take place at a joint venture company, situated close to Geely’s headquarters in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. Geely has a further six car assembly and powertrain manufacturing plants in China.