Carbon E7 The New Police Car!
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Faster and "greener" than the standby Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, Carbon Motors' car is a bold entry for a start-up company challenging an increasingly fragmented auto market.
Carbon Motors
But for all its bluster "a new brand of justice," the promo kit proffers Carbon Motors will have to win over police officers, a notably conservative blue brotherhood that may not want to trade the vehicle they know for a custom-built one they don't."There certainly is opportunity for niche vehicle manufacturers nowadays unlike any time since the beginning of the auto industry," says Brett Smith, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) in Ann Arbor, Mich. "There are market segments that larger car companies, especially in difficult economic times, don't have the resources to go after. The challenge for a start-up company is, how willing are your constituents to pay for it?"
Carbon Motors a collaboration among a small team of investors, engineers, and Georgia Tech needs to sell about 20,000 cars to the 240,000-vehicle US law-enforcement fleet to warrant its proposed 2012 production run. Its light plastic panels, a German-engineered drivetrain that nearly doubles the mileage compared with the market-dominant Crown Vic, and a green cachet with a biodiesel engine make it a stark contrast to the "rolling offices" that police use today.
In a wily move to gather engineering ideas and create viral marketing buzz, the company created a "Carbon Council" of nearly 2,000 beat officers across the United States who contributed 88 original ideas to the car including a "hoseable" rear seat, an extra-wide driver's seat set into a helicopter cockpit-style front compartment, and side emergency lights to increase visibility and safety. Computer-aided design technology and outsourcing of the drivetrain have kept development costs low.
"You think about Knight Rider and all these fictional characters," said William Santana Li, chairman and CEO of the Atlanta-based Carbon Motors Corporation. "This car is actually real."
A prototype model of the E7
A prototype model of the E7 is on a nine-city U.S. tour, as Carbon Motors executives market the car to law enforcement officials and municipal fleet managers.Unlike conventional police cruisers, which are retrofitted consumer vehicles such as the Ford Crown Victoria, the E7 is the first car designed and built specifically for law enforcement.
"You would never send a pickup truck to go put out a fire," Li said. "Why would you send a family sedan to go take care of a homeland-security issue?"
Flashing emergency lights are embedded in the E7's frame, making the car aerodynamic and visible from all directions. The front seats are designed with extra space to accommodate a police officer's utility belt.
The rear passenger compartment is completely sealed off from the cockpit. Molded plastic seats in back allow for easy cleaning and prevent prisoners from hiding contraband.
Two front-mounted cameras automatically scan license plates of nearby vehicles and alert police when they find a car flagged as stolen or involved in some other crime. According to developers, the car's onboard equipment can also detect nuclear and biological threats.
Carbon E7 Power
Li said the car's 300 bhp forced-induction 3.0-diesel engine will deliver 420 lb-ft of torque and propel the vehicle from zero to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds, with a governed top speed of 155 mph.He also said the E7's engine, which can run on either ultra-low sulfur diesel or biodiesel, will have a combined fuel economy rating of 28 to 30 mpg up to 40 percent more fuel efficient than conventional police cruisers.
Carbon Motors has contracted with a European manufacturer to supply the E7's power train, but has yet to publicize the name of that manufacturer. "Our customers will be favorably impressed when we make the announcement," Li added.
At a vehicle demonstration this week in Greenville, S.C., law-enforcement officials and fleet managers were impressed with the powerful features embedded in the vehicle.
"Everything that I have to do to put a police car in service is already done," said Jerry Farmer, the operations superintendent for maintenance with the Newport News, Va. municipal government.
"Most of the cars that we now drive were tested prior to all of the equipment going in and then probably not tested again after that," said Larry Moses, a detective with the police department in Etowah, Tenn. "This car comes equipped and meets national standards."
Carbon E7 Concern
The leading concern potential customers express is the cost. "Can they compete with Ford? Can they compete with Chevrolet?" Moses said. "Can they compete with those guys and actually put a car out there that makes sense for us because it's competitive in price?"Li said Carbon Motors will announce pricing in a few months and that it will be competitive with the cost of retail passenger cars retrofitted with police equipment. Depending on the options installed, current police vehicles can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $75,000.
The company is currently in negotiations with several states on where to locate its assembly plant. According to Li, production of the E7 will create 10,000 direct and indirect American jobs.
Law enforcement agencies purchase an estimated 80,000 vehicles per year. Carbon Motors officials project the annual manufacture and sale of 50,000 E7s, with the first models going into service in 2012.
"It's all from the bottom up where designers figure out how to make the car fit the need, which is really the opposite of what's happening in Detroit," says Richard Wilson, a former CNN science reporter who's familiar with the Carbon project.
Carbon E7 Advantages
The Carbon E7 is a 300-horsepower bio-diesel-fueled bad-guy chaser equipped with sensors for weapons of mass destruction and automatic license-plate scanners.Carbon's board of trustees include heavyweights such as Tom Ridge, former secretary of Homeland Security; 9/11 commission vice chair Lee Hamilton; and former New York Police Commissioner Lee Brown.
"What is infuriating to us is that, seven years after 9/11, we've got our first responders in retail passenger cars that were designed 30 years ago for Sunday drives," says Mr. Li, the CEO. "This is not OK anymore."
Currently on a tour of the US, the E7 has a tendency to turn gruff police officers into "giggling schoolgirls," Wired Magazine quipped. By focusing on a captive market of municipalities and government agencies instead of consumers, Carbon is trying to ensure that it won't go the disastrous route of the DeLorean in the 1980s. That doesn't mean the E7 won't face some major roadblocks, including questions over dent repairs of the chassis, warranties, and sticker price (not yet announced).
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