Detroit upstart plans electric sports car

 

Detroit Electric is back. The brand was well known 100 years ago, when the Anderson Electric Car Company made the Detroit Electric vehicle that could go about 80 miles on a single charge.

Detroit Electric collapsed after the Great Depression, but a former Lotus Cars executive borrowed the name for a new company founded in 2008. Now, the company wants to produce a battery-powered sports car by August.

"We think we have the best electric car out there," Don Graunstadt, CEO of the company's North America operations, told the MLive website. That was a clear knock against Tesla Motors (TSLA +2.48%), which has been ramping up a line of sleek electric sports cars.

So far, Detroit Electric isn't saying much about the cars it plans to produce. It released a teaser photo (pictured) of a two-seat sports car that it says is "certain to quicken pulses." The car could cost around $135,000, MLive reported.

The new car will be revealed April 3 in Detroit and then at the Shanghai Motor Show on April 20. The car will be assembled in Michigan, and Detroit Electric says it can make up to 2,500 a year at its facility.

It will have a non-union workforce, and executives want to hire 180 employees by the end of the year.