Carbon Motors has pulled out of its manufacturing plant in Indiana with little to no notice. The formerVisteon plant in Connersville, Indiana was shuttered earlier this week, with Carbon Motors removing all of their equipment and even paint over the sign. The revolutionary cop car company was going to use the plant to construct their E7 diesel-fueled police cars.
They E7 vehicles are dedicated police cars with specialized red, blue, and white lights on the windscreen, bumper, and on the roof, and would have been powered by BMW diesel engines. Built from the ground up as a cop car, the E7 showed a lot of promise, but could never secure the funding needed to make their dream a reality.
Carbon Motors hoped to raise the $350 million it needed to start production, and it counted on the U.S Department of Energy to loan $310 million of that money. However, the DOE declined the loan, and Carbon Motors has been unable to raise the private capital necessary. This, despite reportedly having orders from over 600 police departments, and a reported 200,000 six-cylinder BMW diesel engines purchased for production.
Carbon Motors expected to create 1,500 jobs building the E7 and their other concept, a CNG-powered police command vehicle.
According to the Indianapolis Business Journal Carbon Motors’ plant development officer wrote the mayor of the city, Leonard Urban, to tell him that he had resigned, and that all traces of Carbon Motors were removed from the plant, including Carbon Drive that leads to it.
Source: Autoblog
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