The Holden Commodore is famous the world over for its wild HSV variants, but right around the time the Australian car market took a turn for the worse, the rear-drive sedan was about to get a whole new environmentally friendly attitude. According to Go Auto Australia, a fully electric Commodore was in the works and all but ready for road use before companies collaborating on the project pulled out.
A joint venture between several companies was established to work on the project, but all partnerships fell apart when the final two participating companies, Bosch Australia and Air International, decided to call it quits after GM announced it would cease production operations in the country. Â The project was called EV Engineering and was the same operation which built a record-setting Commodore that managed to travel on electric power alone for 24 hours straight, covering 1,172 miles in the process.
“EV Engineering got really, really close to actually having a product-ready device,” said Chief Technology Officer David Jahshan of Axiflux, an electric motor development company involved in EV Engineering. “And it’s really sad that the Australian car industry took a turn for the worst at that particular time. It all comes down to timing, doesn’t it?”
The first company to call it quits was Futuris, then Better Place shut down and GE Finance decided to stop funding the project, Jahshan explained. In December, GM turned Holden into solely an import brand which led to the departure of Bosch and Air International. Now Jahshan’s company, Axiflux, has ended up with the remaining assets from EV Engineering, which was a not-for-profit project. The company is looking for partners or backing to continue their project, but that could be difficult given the shape of the Australian car industry.
“Where the biggest challenge is right now is that Australia is backing away from the automotive industry, and finding the right partner has just become a lot harder because there is no local partner,” Jahshan explained.
Jahshan noted the engineering expertise and knowledge gained from EV Engineering is “absolutely” worth it, even if it never materializes into an actual consumer product.
Comments
There is no reason if this was so well worked out that it could not be applied to the Alpha based sedan. Not only would it still work but with less weight the performance should increase to higher ranges and performance.
I really would love to see GM take a CTS and do a S Model challenger. I believe they could do well with this combo. Also it would be in a price range to do it right and still make money. I would do a special aero package to clean it up more and make it something special.
I really expect a electric Cadillac Sedan in the not too distant future to pop up. GM has Technology. the Parts and the platform they just need to combine them.
*A Model S challenger.
There was an all electric VE II Calais-V produced and tested so GM knew the project was worth it but of course, GM won’t stay and fight. Just run away.
To be fair no one other than Musk was willing to do a larger more expensive EV car. While I am not a Musk fan this is one thing he gambled on and got right. Now the others are back tracking to seek this market now that they know there is one the public accepts.
In my eyes where Tesla have done well is that they have created an electric car that looks and drives in a way that is appealing to gear heads like us. I would look at a Prius or a Volt and think “It looks like something some left wing greeny would drive. No thanks.”. If I didn’t know it was electric and had a tailpipe I would look at the Model S and think “It looks like a hot front engine, rear wheel drive sedan. Pass me the keys.” They have created an electric car that has rev head/sex appeal. Kind of like what the iPhone did for smartphones.
Something like the electric Commodore could have done this in a more conventional and affordable way had it come to fruition.
That is what Tesla has done they did a more expensive car that looks good when most were just trying to make a cheaper electric car with more range and smaller batteries that tree huggers would love.
Musk proved there was a market that the other did not believe existed. That is what great discovery he has made. But now the others know and can duplicate his efforts and even improve on them more easily with bigger budgets and more infrastructure.
Read this and it will show you more of what Tesla faces.
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20140403/CARNEWS/140329864