New electric car uses Frisian technology

The large Malaysian automobile producer Proton has signed a more than 400 million euro contract with a Dutch company (from Friesland) for the large-scale production of electric cars for Europe, the United States and China.

Proton believes that with the help of Frisian technology it will be able to produce 40,000 cars next year. The electric Proton will be equipped with a new kind of engine developed by a one-man Frisian firm, Detroit Electric. The cars will to all extent and purposes look like a normal middle-class vehicle and the price is in the same range: between 20,000 and 30,000 euros.

400,000 cars a year
Starting in 2012, every year around 400,000 electric cars will roll off the assembly line in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. The European importer will be ECE cars, a Lochem firm that until now installed electric engines in ‘normal’ cars.

The electric Proton will be plugged into the socket at night so that during the day it can – depending upon the make – ride from 180 to 325 kilometres. A full battery costs around three euros. The cars can quickly upload their batteries at recharging stations and continue their journey. The Essent energy company is constructing a network of such stations throughout the Netherlands.

The Malaysian-Frisian cooperation is a major breakthrough because the costs of charging the battery are less than those of filling a tank of fuel. Three euros is an offer which cannot be turned down, especially since the price of the car is the same as that of any other in its range.

Thijs Westerbeek van Eerten
Radio Netherlands