Detroit Electric to Start Production in Holland, Not Necessarily Move It From Detroit

Detroit Electric CEO at the April launch of the brand and its SP:01 battery powered sports car Saying that they continue to be committed to building cars in the Detroit area, EV startup Detroit Electric has told the Detroit News that the first models of its SP:01 sports car, like Tesla's Roadster an electrified Lotus, will have their final assembly done in Holland starting in the last quarter of the year, not this month in Wayne County, Michigan as announced when the brand was launched back in April. While some have characterized the announcement as indicating that Detroit Electric is moving production from the Motor City to Europe, at the launch the company did indeed say that they'd be opening two assembly facilities, one near Detroit and the other in Europe to build cars for the European market, so it's possible that there is no move planned, just that the Detroit facility has been delayed. "We are Detroit Electric, not London Electric," the automaker's CEO, Albert Lam, said in a statement. "Our commitment to the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan and the United States is as strong as it ever was. While there have been some delays in our plan to start production in Detroit, many vehicle programs experience some form of delay." Detroit Electric earlier blamed one of those delays on the fact that it had not finalized a lease or purchase agreement on any production facility near Detroit, and now they say that securing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Certification must happen before they start U.S. production. It's not clear if that certification would include meeting all Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards or if the company is continuing to seek an exemption for low production vehicles, as Lam told TTAC they would, back in April at the launch. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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