Jump to content

Charlotte one of six finalists for Carbon Motors automotive plant.


gman430

Recommended Posts

Carbon Motors Corporation announced today that 5 US States have made the short list for the location of the Carbon Campus, which will house the entirety of the company's operations. Carbon Motors is a bold, new homeland security company that has developed the Carbon E7, the world's first purpose-built law enforcement patrol vehicle. Independent projections forecast that 10,000 new sustainable direct and indirect American jobs will be created driving a $3 billion positive economic impact over ten years in the selected region. Formal Request for Proposals (RFPs) have been issued to local, state, and federal authorities in:

Georgia (Braselton and Pooler)

Indiana (Connersville)

Michigan (Plymouth)

North Carolina (Charlotte)

South Carolina (Greenville and Spartanburg)

Source: http://carbonmotors.com/news-releases/76/C...w-American-Jobs

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Replies 36
  • Created
  • Last Reply

This seems a little fishy to me. From what I can tell this is a company in Atlanta that is looking to get a lot of public money for something that doesn't exist. (and I question the need) I would rather federal money be spend developing rail systems instead of urban hit vehicles.

The town of Cornelius had a contract with Homeland Security. They bought a couple of Jet Skis with it. The devil is in the details.

I will say the Federal government does not do contests with it's money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They have a contract with Homeland Security and have financing. Nothing low budget or speculative about it.

All I could find online was press releases about a PR-tour across America to show off the car. It is heavily marketed on their website, and they field informal requests for information about purchasing the car. If this was a real Homeland Security project then they wouldn't be going about business like this. They might have a few small contracts with local municipalities, but I can't find any evidence of any large orders.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, you know, the bomb squad, homeland security, and SWAT teams could always use an upgrade. They could also use some of Saturn's anti-dent doors.

All things considered, I'm surprised Detroit wouldn't be in the running for this plant. For the exact same reasons why GMAC/MS would be good fits in Charlotte.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All things considered, I'm surprised Detroit wouldn't be in the running for this plant.

^^^Two words: UNION LABOR. Although they do have the factory space ready to go in Detroit.

Local news channels have picked up this story as well.

I think Carbon Motor's marketing pitch on the price is that after you buy the crown vic, upfit it, and then maintain and gas it for it's fleet life, then the price is less or the same over the lifetime of the car, with none of the technology upgrades on the crown vic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ahh so this is a "pimp my ride" company. i.e. They buy a Ford and add armor and stuff. I don't see where there is much new to this idea since there are many companies that do this now. I am not sure what the advantage would be over the police package that can be purchased from the car companies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ahh so this is a "pimp my ride" company. i.e. They buy a Ford and add armor and stuff. I don't see where there is much new to this idea since there are many companies that do this now. I am not sure what the advantage would be over the police package that can be purchased from the car companies.

No, they are building there own cars (minus the engines):

Who's building the E7? Carbon Motors Corporation is a new American automaker and will be manufacturing the vehicle in its own facility. Our management and engineering team includes a number of individuals who previously have worked for major automakers, so Carbon Motors is well-versed in the challenges and opportunities of all aspects of vehicle design, manufacturing, finance, management, marketing and service.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ahh so this is a "pimp my ride" company. i.e. They buy a Ford and add armor and stuff. I don't see where there is much new to this idea since there are many companies that do this now. I am not sure what the advantage would be over the police package that can be purchased from the car companies.

Even though the CEO of Carbon Motors is a former chief executive of Ford, the car they would build which can be seen on their website is not a Ford that has been retro-fitted. However, I do think the job numbers they predict to be created from this is highly exaggerated and that government money could and should be spent on better things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, FWIW, Carbon Motors has a blog on its home page that describes there reasoning behind each location. Unfortunately, NC by far has the smallest amount of print. Oh yea, and I was wrong, they are considering Detroit, or at least including it for reasons why they could build in Michigan.

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/CarbonMotorsBlog

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If I were them between NC and SC, it would be Greenville/Spartenburg hands down, no questions.

Its no secret that South Carolina is and has been pumping money into the I-85 corridor in the form of incentives and amenities to create an innovation and production hub for automobiles. Already there, Michelin, BMW, Clemson's ICAR campus (International Center for Automotive Research) just to name a couple big ones, as they mentioned in their blog. South Carolina also will throw everything they have at this, something I'm not convinced NC is interested in doing since it will be located in the Charlotte area of the state as opposed to Raleigh.

Ahh so this is a "pimp my ride" company. i.e. They buy a Ford and add armor and stuff.

I didn't mean to infer they would be buying Ford's. They will be making their own car, sans diesel engine. They were comparing their retail cost of the car to the current cost of the police crown vics.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree there are a lot of words but very little detail on this website. However I would be very surprised they can come up with their own vehicle platform and sell enough vehicles on that platform to stay in business. Even with significant governmental support that I don't think they can do it and I would question if the Fed is willing to fund such a project of dubious need. Right off it's apparent they are going to have to purchase the engine and transmission. Anything competitive would cost hundreds of millions to design, perfect and then setup a manufacturing processes to build. So the engine and transmission are coming from somewhere else. Then there are the airbag systems, brakes, ABS, stability control, computer systems, extremely expensive safety testing, emissions controls, etc. etc, and this doesn't even get to the police stuff.

In other words, developing a vehicle platform is extremely expensive and will take years. This is why I would say they are going to buy one. There is a reason that Saab, Volvo, Jag, Mazda, Range Rover, and so forth had to be taken over. They simply could not afford to develop these systems because they did not sell enough cars to cover the costs. I simply don't see where there is enough demand for police vehicles for Carbon to be in a better position to do this. Lets also keep in mind that Ford and GM are in a position to offer very attractive terms to cash strapped city, county and state governments who might also want to buy other vehicles at discount as well.

So if they are buying a platform, they are left with body work, armoring, etc. i.e. Pimp my ride.

I think these are some serious questions that are going to have to be answered before any govt. is going to give them some money. I do give them credit for creating buzz, but that only goes so far.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

i know, and this is an old article, but nobody posted it on here, so i figured i'd update everybody that didn't know because I hadn't heard. :silly:

It was on the news again tonight. Governor's office had 'no comment'.

Maybe they're smarter than we give them credit for. This whole deal seems a little flaky to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i know, and this is an old article, but nobody posted it on here, so i figured i'd update everybody that didn't know because I hadn't heard. :silly:

Good point. I didn't mean to sound like I was criticizing your post. I was just offering the info that it had happened at least a week ago, maybe more. Hard to remember now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.