Carbon Motors Exits Indiana Factory, Its Future Is Uncertain

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

Carbon Motors Presents Police Command Vehicle With CNG Option

Remember Carbon Motors? The police car company that hoped to bring a purpose-built police cruiser to departments across the country? After their initial design was rejected for low-interest government loans, many of us thought Carbon Motors was on the outs, but it turns out the company has another card up its sleeve, the CNG-powered TX7 Multi-Mission command vehicle.

While the Carbon Motors E7 cop car will probably never see production, the new TX7 could begin production as early as next year. Powered either by a turbocharged V8 diesel engine or compressed natural gas, the TX7 puts efficiency first in its choice of powerplants.

Designed to serve as a rolling command center, the TX7 can withstand chemical and biological attacks, seat up to ten people, and can be configured with all sorts of spy goodies like thermal imaging and infrared scanners. At $150,000 though, the TX7 is far from cheap, and many police departments are hard pressed for funding these days.

It has gotten so bad in some areas that cops won’t even respond to 911 calls because of a lack of funding for fuel. This has led some departments to seek alternatives to gasoline, opting for cheaper and cleaner fuels like CNG or propane. Will departments be drawn to the Carbon Motors TX7 and its alt-fuel capabilities? We’ll soon find out.

Source: Carbon Motors