Price and range to rival Model S, Taycan
Chief executive Hazim Nada tells us: ‘We saw a gap in the way electric vehicles were being built. That’s what we tried to address. We started from first principles, and not inheriting architecture and mindsets from a century of vehicle design. What, from the outside, should a vehicle respect? And what, from a customer perspective, should it inspire? When you marry those two you end up with our products.
Nada was inspired to start the company after many years working with great success as an oil trader. ‘I was fighting daily in a market that I thought would lose its strategic role, and would have to lose its strategic role. If it didn’t we would all be in trouble. I had the blessing of having a little time off in late 2018, early 2019, and that period allowed me to think about this energy transition, and what was happening in electric vehicles.
The company has an R&D centre in Milan, but its business model involves partnerships with outside suppliers, rather than developing and making everything in-house. The factory is likely to be in Italy, up and running in time for 2025 production. Europe, the UK and the US will be the first markets, with ‘salons’ in main cities and a strong online presence.