Dodge's electric Lotus
American manufacturer reveals its Lotus-based EV
Chrysler is showing off its expertise with a bunch of electric vehicles, one of which is this – an electric sports car concept, which would be due for sale around 2010 wearing the Dodge badge.
The basis of the concept is a Lotus Europa, possibly due to the brand’s helping hand in creating the highly-rated Tesla Roadster, which uses the Elise as its base and is manufactured at the Lotus factory in Norfolk.
The Dodge EV will be a pure-electric vehicle, with a 264bhp motor boasting an impressive 480lb ft of torque, which is available instantly, much like the instantaneous whoosh of the Tesla. There is also lithium-ion batteries and an integrated power controller. The car itself will be a lightweight two-seater and rear-wheel driven, but the styling will vary a lot from the Europa’s – although Chrysler could use some of Lotus’ expertise in making the car.
The car will have a range of 150 to 200 miles, which should more than cover a daily commute. Recharging is slated to take around eight hours on a 110-volt outlet, but that could be halved to four hours by using 220-volts instead.
Chrysler also showed off a Grand Voyager MPV and a Jeep Wrangler running on electric power, revealing front-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive EVs to join the sports car concept.
The brand is clearly staying faithful to electric, while others shun it as being a non-starter. There’s certainly more and more electric concepts being revealed at the moment though – so is it time to accept them as the future? Or would you never touch anything without internal combustion? Head to the forum and let us all know.
