Carbon Motors, a startup auto maker devoted to building purpose-built vehicles for first responders, says it will launch production of its TX7 multi-mission vehicle in late 2013.
The company is tight-lipped when it comes to information about the TX7, except to say it will be powered by a clean-diesel engine mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission.
Carbon Motors President and CEO William Santana Li, a former Ford executive, doesn’t disclose from where the niche auto maker will source its engine, transmission or platform, saying it’s too early in the process.
Such details will be revealed closer to the production date at the company’s Connersville, IN, production facility. “We’re putting the finishing touches on the development process and starting tooling,” Li tells WardsAuto. “We’ll start deliveries toward the end of 2013.”
The diesel mill will not come from BMW, which was tapped to supply engines for Carbon Motors’ previously announced E7 police patrol car, he reveals.
The TX7, which will start at $149,950, is aimed at law-enforcement agencies that handle situations such as disaster management, search and rescue, warrant service and perimeter security. The utility vehicle will offer a number of dedicated features, including infrared, thermal imaging and weapons-of-mass-destruction sensors, the company says.
Li calls the TX7, which can carry up to 10 people, the “Swiss Army knife” of law-enforcement vehicles.
“Fire departments have purpose-built vehicles, (and there are) ambulances, mail (trucks) and military (vehicles),” he says. “But we have 1 million first responders in the U.S. and do not provide them with the appropriate equipment to do their jobs.”
Carbon Motors is accepting orders for the TX7, but Li says it’s too early to divulge how many law-enforcement agencies have placed an order or the auto maker’s volume expectations.
The utility vehicle will be sold globally, and Li cites Brazil, which is hosting the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, as a potential customer.
The country is looking to revamp its security apparatus, he says. “With the TX7’s smaller package, 4-wheel-drive capability and features, it lends itself to a different approach to law-enforcement operations.”
For now, the TX7 exists in computer-rendered form only, but its angular, stealth-like sheetmetal is unlike anything used by law enforcement today, Li says. The futuristic design is meant to be both functional and more “community friendly” than current military-style vehicles.
Plans originally called for the E7 patrol car, which has received more than 47,000 orders from law-enforcement agencies in all 50 states, to launch first. But Li says the decision was made to offer the TX7 prior to the debut of the E7 so it could serve as a test bed for new technologies.
Li declines to reveal most of the technologies that will be proven out on the TX7, but he does single out the aluminum body structure. “Some exterior panels will be common technology with the E7, so we’ll get real-world experience.”
Li says Carbon Motors is looking to secure private financing for full-scale production of the E7 patrol car.
