Saab Reborn as EV Manufacturer (Again)

Remember Saab? It used to be a small manufacturer of high quality sedans located in Trollhättan, Sweden. Its owners were fiercely loyal to the brand. At least they were until the company was purchased by General Motors in the 80’s at a time when GM and Ford were swaggering their way around the world, buying up car makers to burnish their image. Ford at one time owned Volvo, Jaguar, and Land  Rover, so GM felt compelled to buy  Saab in self defense.

What it did to the once proud company was painful to watch. It foisted off some of its least impressive models on the Swedes and rebranded them as Saabs. One unfortunate candidate for such badge engineering was the Chevy Blazer. Another was the Subaru WRX. At the time, GM owned a controlling stake in Suburu, before selling out for pennies on the dollar to Toyota.

During its stewardship of Saab, GM managed to besmirch the Swedish company’s reputation egregiously. Quality went over a cliff and customers deserted the brand in droves. Ultimately, GM’s brilliant management bankrupted the company. Its assets were purchased by Dutch car maker Spyker, but production never resumed. It in turn was purchased by Chinese investors and rechristened NEVS — an acronym standing for New Electric Vehicle Sweden.

NEVS, which had been scrambling for cash, announced this week that it has received a $12 billion dollar order for 225,000 of its electric cars from a Chinese leasing company called Panda New Energy. (!?)

The bodies of the Panda cars will be manufactured at the same Trollhättan factory in Sweden that the first “NEVS” Saabs were built at, then shipped to China where assembly will be completed in a new factory that is under construction. It is believed the cars will be based on the “archaic” Epsilon chassis that last saw service under the Saab 9-3.

The order will bring the Swedish factory back to life after a long sleep and could create hundreds of new jobs in Sweden. NEVS has also announced that it will begin manufacturing 5 new electric vehicles by 2018. The first will be based on the same outdated Epsilon platform, but a new small sedan and three small SUV’s are planned for the more modern Phoenix platform that GM designed but never put into production, according to Green Car Reports.

As for the name Saab, NEVS does not yet own the rights to use it. After the car company folded, the name reverted to the control of the Swedish aircraft manufacturer with the same name. NEVS is negotiating for permission to badge its new cars with the once-proud Saab brand name once again.

Image credit: NEVS.

Here’s Hoping Saab’s 9-3 Electric Doesn’t End Up A Saab Story

In 2012, NEVS acquired the majority of Saab Automobile AB’s assets and now, two years later, production has begun on their promised Saab 9-3 EV. In August of 2013, the Trollhättan Saab plant reopened and just over a month later, the first NEVS Saab came off the line to allow testing of new components and equipment. By the end of 2013, NEVS began selling directly to consumers, similarly to the way Tesla has done.

This will soon not be the only similarity between the two companies as Saab has sent out its first 200 electric 9-3s to Qingdao, China for government testing and to be fitted with batteries. This is no coincidence, as the city of Qingdao is a 22% stakeholder in NEVS and Saab aims to make China a primary target for sales.

In their current form the 9-3s only hold enough charge for a paltry 20 mile drive, but these numbers are expected to increase to a 115-mile range through development at NEVS battery factory, located in Beijing. Though details are limited, typical electric vehicle designs are being followed here and undercarriage mounted batteries will help keep as even a weight distribution as possible.

Saab has had a number of slogans over the years but a focus on the driving experience has been centric to Saab’s design and marketing over the years. Center-mounted window and lock controls keep the driver’s left hand steady, and there have always been a number of turbo models in their lineups. Advanced controls and amenities (like heated seats!) kept driving comfortable the whole year long, but behind these advanced features lie advanced electronics that are often where many Saabs go wrong.

Back in 2009, I purchased a 1995 Saab 9000CSE that had all of the above features with 126k miles for just $1,200. Leather, sunroof, heated seats, blah, blah, blah. Fun to drive and decent on gas, it started every time, but around the second month of ownership, I began to see the Saab’s many electrical gremlins. The climate control, radio, power windows and windshield wipers would cut out randomly, but not all at the same time, and the passenger’s power seat became stuck all the way forward. (The only car I’ve ever known that nobody ever called shotgun for. -Chris).

I put up with it on cold New England days with no heat. I put up with it in New York City traffic after an August Yankees game with no A/C. Then one day the windows wouldn’t work when a heavy storm was rolling in and taped up garbage bags were my only solution.  This was the proverbial straw on the camel’s back that led me to selling this complexly beautiful car.

These problems are not exactly “few and far between” on Saab forums. With electrical issues seeming to affect a wide range of models and years, it would be a serious concern if I were in the market for a Saab that relies almost entirely on electrical components.

That being said, hopefully the 20% of newly designed parts that have gone into the “new” Saab 9-3 will alleviate these concerns for potential buyers when the Saab electric lineup begins. With their sleek designs and dedicated fan base, Saab is the brand you hate to love, and it simply refuses to die.

Sources: SaabsUnited | InsideEVs

Electric Saab ePower 9-3 Coming for 2015

The first new Saab of the NEVS era rolled off the company’s Trollhätten assembly line in Sweden last week, getting the ball rolling on one of the biggest post-bailout era automotive success stories. Inside EVs is reporting that these first new-era Saabs, which are gasoline-powered and not the upcoming “Saab ePower” electric model, are being built for sale to government agencies in China and to get any bugs in the new assembly process “worked out” before commercial sales of the EVs restart.

Meanwhile, the core of the new Saab ePower line – the NEVS lithium-ion phosphorus cell battery packs – are reportedly wrapping up development in Japan and are on-track for delivery to Saab’s Swedish assembly line sometime early next year, in time for NEVS and Saab to start putting electric 9-3s and, hopefully, 9-5s on the road in time for the 2015 model year.

We’ll have more updates on the new Saab ePower 9-3′s production timeline, and whether or not Saab will pull the trigger on electric/hybrid concepts like the Saab Phoenix coupe or a new Saab 900 Phoenix model, in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned!

Source | Photos: Saab, via Inside EVs.

NEVS Completes SASB Deal with Promises of EV's on the Way

Swedish carmaker Saab endeared itself to many throughout its history, with a reputation for unique design and technological innovation across several decades. That made watching its slow death last year excruciating for fans of the marque, and as the company closed its doors, the future for Saab and its home town of Trollhättan in Sweden looked bleak.

Thanks to Chinese-owned National Electric VehiclesSweden (NEVS), the future once again looks bright--and greener than ever. NEVS has finalized acquisition of the Saabautomobile bankruptcy estates, meaning Saab is once again in the hands of a company that wishes to continue its tradition for engineering--this time, with an electric vehicle.

Included in the acquisition are the IP rights to the Saab 9-3, tools, the manufacturing plant and test and laboratory facilities. The company also bought Saab's in-development Phoenix platform in the acquisition. The all-new platform, used in the 2011 PhoeniX concept, was set to be the basis of the next generation Saab 9-3, on which NEVS's first car is likely to be based. The company plans to develop a "world-class electric vehicle" at the Trollhättan plant. Development has been ongoing in Japan and China even before the acquisition, but can now continue in Sweden using the Saab facility's state-of-the-art technology. NEVS has announced that although it holds the rights to the Saab name, the present logotype will not be used--so Saab may well be rebranded to fit in with the new all-electric plan.

After years in the mire, fans of Saab will be pleased to hear the company is finally in good hands, granted a new lease of life to storm the electric vehicle market.

Source: Green Car Reports