EV Engineering Limited announces $3.5M Holden Commodore electric project
A government-backed initiative was announced today which brought multiple auto companies together to form EV Engineering Limited. The collaboration is hoping to develop seven all-electric Holden Commodore concept prototypes with help from a $3.5 million Green Car Innovation Fund grant.
Companies comprising Holden, the CSIRO, Bosch, Continental, Better Place and Air International will all join forces in the project, one that hopes to pave the way in electric vehicle technology in Australia. The seven vehicles will be used as a test bed to see how electric and plug-in hybrid technology works in Australia's infrastructure. If the cars are successful, they could form the basis of showroom-ready models in the future.
The project will also be in line with Australia's 'Automotive Australia 2020' direction and will be the first large, mutli-organisation initiative to engineer a large EV sedan in Australia. Chairman of EV Engineering Limited (former President and CEO of Mitsubishi Australia), Robert McEniry, said at today's announcement,
"This collaboration is evidence that the local manufacturing and automotive industries have recognised the important role these vehicles will play in their future.
“EV Engineering Limited builds on the existing strengths of the industry in large sized passenger vehicles for both domestic and export markets. This initiative will strengthen the local capabilities and give Australia the opportunity to lead the world in the development of large, powerful, zero-emissions vehicles, and ensure we remain globally competitive in this sustainable, high growth market
The project is set to take just 15 months, but even if a production model were to come out of it, the upcoming 2013 or 2014 Holden Commodore would be on the market by then. Regardless, it is great to see the Australian auto industry working together to come up with feasible means of zero tailpipe-emission transport.
We look forward to bringing you more updates to the EV Engineering Limited Commodore concepts in the near future.
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