Electric Aussie SUV planned

A 250km/h electric SUV with true off-road ability is the first vehicle planned by a new South Australian-based automotive start-up called Red Automotive Technologies.

Featuring a heap of new and innovative technologies, the SUV is planned to hit the market at a price around $85,000 if the funding can be found to get the project up and running.

Red’s target is to be building up to 75,000 electric SUVs within 10 years in Australia, with all but 5000 earmarked for export to places such as the USA, Middle East and Europe.

It would eventually build a range of vehicles with prices extending beyond $200,000. The premium positioning is driven by the increased profit potential in that part of the market.

The images you see were supplied by Red to motoring.com.au for illustrative purposes only and do not reflect the vehicles that will be developed.

Red is the second automotive manufacturing start-up to break cover publicly in Australia in recent months following the announcement of Ethan Automotive, which is following a more orthodox vehicle model.

Ethan plans to roll out its brand name, sketches of its model line-up and basic engineering details in the first quarter of 2016, as we reported exclusively yesterday.

Both companies are aiming to help fill the void that will be left when Ford, Holden and Toyota cease local manufacturing operations by 2018.

The SUV is the brainchild of Adelaide engineer Paul van de Loo, who has spun Red out of his engineering design consultancy, Applidyne.

Van de Loo is a graduate of Adelaide University who went on to gain a masters degree in mechanical engineering at Stanford University before forming Applidyne. It has been in business for 22 years designing products and systems for the defence, consumer goods, mining and automotive industries.

Van de Loo has recruited former GM Holden product planning chief and director and EV expert Ian McCleave to the advisory board of Red.

The SUV would be a based on a clean-sheet ‘skateboard’ architecture, use four in-wheel motors, a patented two-speed transmission that would enable ultra-low and ultra-high speeds, innovative suspension design including semi-active roll and articulation control and vehicle-to-home interactions such as energy generation and supply.

Key specifications Red has targeted include a 200km-plus electric-only range, a 1200km-plus range with a range extender petrol or diesel engine, 0-100km/h acceleration in less than four seconds, a top speed of 250km/h, ride height adjustable suspension with 375mm of ground clearance and 450mm of wheel travel, and a 3500kg braked towing capacity.

The company claims it can deliver off-road performance that can leave “the gnarliest Jeep or LandCruiser way behind”.

Van de Loo told a Senate economics reference committee enquiry into the auto industry in October that the SUV would hit a unique spot in the market.

“There is a lot of activity in SUV electric or electric hybrids, but primarily in the soft-road segment,” he said. “Nobody is targeting the off-road capable segment.

“The design we have developed indicates that there are huge advantages to be gained in performance. Most off-road-capable SUVs have very stark compromises between on-road performance and off-road. Suspension is certainly the area where that shows up the most.

“When you go in with a clean sheet of paper and you have an architecture where you can put a motor at each wheel and a big skateboard-type battery in between, the opportunities in suspension design alone are enormous.”

Van de Loo said being an Australian company delivered Red an advantage when it came to developing and marketing a hard-core SUV.

“Let us face it: there is no other country in the world that is going to build an off-road vehicle better than we can, because we use them more than anyone else,” he said.

“We understand what it is all about; we know that if you stop in the middle of the desert you are probably going to stay there forever. That is a natural sales advantage for us.”

Van de Loo told the Senators that if the Red did not gain the funding support required to go the full way to vehicle production then licensing the intellectual property such as the two-speed transmission developed for the project would be a “mid position”.

The company is soon to start the process of sourcing funds for its program, which it says will come from the private sector before eventually going to an Initial Public Offer (IPO).