It’s super sexy, green and to be made in South Africa.
A press release jointly issued by Italy’s Velozzi, a sports car manufacturer, and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa announced a partnership two weeks ago to develop a range of sleek new plug-in hybrid sports cars.
The car would be as stylish as the Tesla, an all-electric roadster to be made in the United States with a $100 000 price tag.
But where the Tesla, which reportedly out-accelerates a Porsche, is all-electric, the Velozzi will be a hybrid, offering both an electric and a conventional engine. Tesla has been taking advance orders for its roadster, but production has also been subject to delays.
The press release said the intention was to mass manufacture the plug-in hybrids. “At the IDC, we recognise the importance of a dynamic private sector in securing and stimulating rapid and sustainable economic growth, creating employment and reducing poverty,” said Wendy Luhabe, chairperson of the IDC, in the press release issued at the Detroit motor show.
“I want us to start a brand new, genuine South African auto manufacturer dedicated to building only green vehicles,” she said.
Details released so far are scant but Velozzi is promising performance of 0-100kph in just three seconds, a top speed of 320kph and fuel consumption of two litres per 100km.
Velozzi has two models in mind: a two-seater sports car and a four- seater. As plug-in hybrids, they will be capable of running in electric-only mode.
The cars will be able to run on a variety of fuels, including petrol, ethanol and diesel.
The batteries used will be Li-Ion, and the motor looks to be an AC propulsion unit similar to that found in the Tesla Roadster. There is as yet no working prototype.
In an interview with the autogreenblog, Velozzi director Roberto Jerez said: “We feel that [hybrid vehicles provide] a good combination to address problems that we have right now facing our climate. One of them is, you know, global warming … another is the energy crisis. We’re trying to develop a car that uses less fuel and does address both the pollution and the energy crisis itself.”
Luhabe said the IDC’s mandate includes the rest of the African continent and “we are active throughout the African continent”.
Attempts to get more information from the IDC were not successful. One official said the project is in its infancy and that more information will only be available in a few months’ time. The project was still at the concept stage and further discussions were planned with Velozzi.