Detroit Electric to build electric vehicles based on the Proton Persona and GEN 2

Posted by Harvinder at March 31, 2009

Dutch-based Detroit Electric has officially selected Malaysian-based auto maker Proton as a platform supplier for Detroit Electric’s emissions free, fully electric vehicles as both companies signed an agreement yesterday. Detroit Electric, which has Albert Lam as its front man will build electric cars based on the Proton Persona and the Proton GEN 2, dubbed as the Detroit Electric e63 and Detroit e46 respectively. Basically, Detroit Electric will buy the Proton Persona and Proton GEN 2 from Proton and fit an electric motor instead of the CamPro engine. Both models will be built in Proton’s Tanjung Malim plant.

Detroit Electric has released preliminary specifications of both these models. Both models are powered by an Axial Magnetic Flux electric motor that features 75 kW as its continuous power output, while being able to output 150 kW, or 200HP as its peak output. Torque figure is rated between 350Nm and 380Nm. We are not really sure what is meant by “continuous” power output, but we can speculate that it is the output which is available most of the time, meaning the peak power of 200HP is not available all the time. Another thing to note is that spirited driving may reduce driving range.

The GEN 2-based e46 (unfortunately not the BMW e46) features a 25 kWh Lithium Ion Polymer battery pack while the Persona-based e63 features a 40 kWh version. Both cars offer 180 kilometers and 320 kilometers in terms of driving range, respectively. The e46 needs 8 hours for a full re-charge while the latter requires 12.5 hours. Both cars can accelerate to 100 km/h in less than 8 seconds, and feature a governed top speed of 180 km/h. Both cars also feature other fitments such as ABS and EBD, auto cruising, GPS, 430 liters of trunk space, 16 inch alloy wheels and more. May I remind you again, these are preliminary specifications, but so far, it looks pretty good.

Continue reading for the rest of the report and to view more images of the Detroit Electric e46 and Detroit Electric e63, as well as to view three videos.