Kalashnikov, the famed maker of the AK-47 among many other weapons has,in an interesting turn, decided to join the electric vehicle party. Kalashnikov does produce military vehicles, so I guess it is not completely out of their realm of expertise.
At a recent defense expo, Kalashnikov showed off its CV-1 prototype. The CV-1 has a strong 70s aesthetic that borrows heavily from the Russian made IZh 2125 Kombi from the same era.
“This technology will let us stand in the ranks of global electric car producers such as Tesla and be their competitor,” “This technology will let us stand in the ranks of global electric car producers such as Tesla and be their competitor,”
A spokesperson from Kalashnikov has stated, seems like the company has some lofty goals in mind.
Not much is known about the powertrain of the CV-1, all we know is that there is a “revolutionary inverter” in the car and allows for power of up to 1.2 MW of power. The only concrete number is that the car has a claimed range of 217 miles (350 km) on a single charge. On top of that the CV-1 has a 0-60 time of around 6 seconds.
I always that the cool thing about to shift towards an EV market is that it gives new companies a chance to disrupt the established companies and squeeze in. Never would I have imagined that a Russian arms manufacture would be one of those companies that would be trying to emerge in this market. But hey, who else out there is planning to maker electric cars with such a strong Russian 70s look? Probably no one.
We don’t know how serious Kalashnikov will be about this project, being shown at a defense expo rather than an automotive one. But its something I look forward to watching over, if only for the quirky nature of the CV-1 and how they plan to take down Tesla and other established brands.
Source: BBC
