Detroit Electric To Start Production In Holland

The second revival of the Detroit Electric name is banking on a carbon copy of the Tesla Roadster to get the ball rolling on this new/old brand, as well cashing in on Detroit’s resurgence as a manufacturing hub. Alas,production delays and the lack of a factory deal has sent Detroit Electric to Holland to begin production. Is this Fisker 2.0?

Detroit Electric says it is committed to producing cars in the city of Detroit, but that come the fourth quarter of 2013 actual production will begin in Holland instead. Detroit Electric has failed to secure a factory in Michigan, even though executives had said the revived automaker would begin production last month. Eventually, we are told, production will begin somewhere in Michigan, with up to 100 people employed and annual production capacity of 2,500 Lotus-based SP:01 electric sports cars per year.

This all has shades of Fisker Automotive which, as you will recall, bought an old GM plant in Delaware on the shoulders of taxpayers. That plant has sat idle for years while Fisker built a couple of thousand Karma models in a European facility before shutting down production due to lack of money. Detroit Electric is already going by the same playbook, which doesn’t exactly fill me with optimism.

Also don’t forget that Detroit Electric has signed a deal with Chinese automaker Geely to produce an affordable electric hatchback and sedan for the Asian market, just like the original Detroit Electric plan launched in 2009. Something tells me those cars won’t be built in America either.

Source: The Detroit News