Car and Driver's reporting the Lotus Europa-based Dodge Circuit EV electric car may not be dead after all, proven by multiple sightings of test mules at Chrysler's various testing facilities.
Chrysler's been adamant that the Circuit EV program wasn't killed back in May and Car and Driver has now uncovered a few more details of the program. They sat down with Chrysler ENVI president Lou Rhodes to discuss various details of the ENVI program is progressing.
In a similar move to Tesla, and one that makes perfect sense; Lotus will produce the Circuit EV in the UK and then ship it to the U.S. for installation of Chrysler's electric powertrain. That powertrain has yet to reach a final build spec as they are undergoing constant modifications including a recent advancement that has cut the 0-60 mph time by nearly half a second.
Chrysler has stated a sales target of 100,000 for their full range of ENVI vehicles, enough to make a decent return on all the costly technology in place. With those numbers, Chrysler could potentially undercut the theoretically similar Tesla Roadster by "tens of thousands" of dollars.
We've been slightly suspicious of the Circuit EV ever since its initial debut, but if Chrysler can pull it off along with the rest of the ENVI program then color us impressed. [Car and Driver via All Cars Electric via Autoblog]