Exciting news for EV enthusiasts arrives with Kleenspeed Technologies, a Silicon Valley startup that claims to have come up with an electric car that can be priced below $10,000 while still commanding a range of 150 miles per charge.
Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? The KAR GT prototype was shown off at the San Francisco International Auto Show; the design stems from Kleenspeed’s GenESSys Energy Storage System.
According to Autoweek, the storage system could carry almost 40 kWh of batteries, hence powering the car for its supposed 150 miles on a single charge.
In terms of specs, TGDaily offers the following: the KAR GT design features a 100 kW/134 HP electric motor delivering 221 lb ft of torque. Speed tops out at 85 mph, and it goes 0-60 mph in 6.5 seconds. The battery can recharge fully in some six hours.
The car is expected to go for $9,995 for the base model, with a sportier model hitting $14,000. Now, when you account for various tax credits and other incentives both at the federal and state level, the asking price drops even lower.
Part of the reason Kleenspeed can keep costs under control is a leasing program for the battery. Also, the energy storage system has a rated lifetime of 1,500 charges and a smart battery management system that can keep the battery available for “second life” applications even after it’s no longer usable by the car.
Kleenspeed says the KAR platform is modular, so it can be licensed to various car manufacturers for use in their own vehicles. The prototype uses a “Chinese-sourced vehicle.”
The catch to all of this is Kleenspeed’s lacks a manufacturing partner. But the cutting edge technology should be enough to draw partners in soon.
