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The Detroit Electric brand to bring back its electric vehicles

PHOTO ©AMERICAJR.com

AmericaJR.com's Jason Rzucidlo stands in front of a 1922 Detroit Electric at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich.

by Jason Rzucidlo americajr@americajr.com

WATCH: The Detroit Electric was one of the first electric vehicles ever built (video below)

DEARBORN, Mich. -- This year, we are kicking off our coverage of the 2011 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) inside The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. The 1922 Detroit Electric was one of the first electric vehicles ever produced. It is on display inside the museum. There will be many modern electric vehicles on display at the 2011 NAIAS.

The vehicle was built by the Detroit Electric Car Company from 1907 to 1942. It is a four-passenger Model 90 coupe. The Detroit Electric comes with a large battery, which powers the vehicle's electric motor. It has a driving range of 70 to 100 miles between charges.

Henry Ford bought a Detroit Electric vehicle for his wife Clara Ford. Other notable people to own these cars include Thomas Edison, Charles Proteus Steinmetz, Mamie Eisenhower and John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

In 2008, Detroit Electric announed a joint venture with China's Youngman Automotive Group to revive the brand. This agreement ended the involvement of ZAP and the Youngman Automotive Group. However, ZAP and Youngman were unsuccessful in securing enough funds to bring back Detroit Electric vehicles.

In March 2009, Detroit Electric announced a new working agreement with Proton Holdings in Malaysia. Two vehicle platforms will be licensed to Proton, enabling it to assemble the electric vehicles under the Detroit Electric name. Detroit Electric hopes to roll out its affordable electric vehicles worldwide by the end of 2010 with its partnership with Proton.

the Magnetic Magnetic Flex Motor Technology and Lithium Polymer Battery Technology will allow the Detroit Electric to be driven on a single-charge for 111 miles for the city range model and 200 miles for the extended range model.

By 2012, Detroit Electric hopes to sell over 270,000 pure electric vehicles in the U.S., U.K., Europe and China. The Detroit Electric will be priced between $23,000 and $26,000 for the city range model and between $28,000 and $33,000 for the extended range model.

The big question is will Detroit Electric show off its new line of electric vehicles at the 2011 NAIAS? That is not known. However, we do know there will be many electric vehicles on display at the auto show in January.

Reporting in Dearborn, Jason Rzucidlo for AmericaJR.com.

 

 

 

Photo credit: www.zapworld.com

A historic advertisement for the Detroit Electric vehicle.

 

This page was last updated on Sat, October 2, 2010 3:38 PM

 

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