URT Group manufactures bodywork for Detroit Electric SP:01

Composites and engineering specialist URT Group, says it has partnered electric vehicle manufacturer Detroit Electric to produce the carbon fibre body panels for its new SP:01 sports car, which made its public debut at the Shanghai Auto Show recently.

URT also produced the panels for another SP:01 show car, which was revealed to a select group of VIPs in Detroit on 3 April. To facilitate the manufacture of the remaining 999 vehicles planned for production, URT has developed a bespoke body engineering programme for the limited edition sports car. To ensure the highest level of quality, URT used a resin infusion moulding process for the SP:01 show cars and employed some of the most experienced members of its production and innovations teams. A team of six highly-skilled engineers produced moulds and carried out detailed material research as well as manufacturing the body panels. URT’s choice of cutting-edge materials contributes to the vehicle’s gross weight of just 1,090kg. The SP:01 accelerates from 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds and has a top speed of 155mph, making it the fastest-ever pure electric production vehicle. “We were very excited to work with Detroit Electric as we admire its vision and the engineering drive behind the company,” said Matt Cox, URT’s founding director. “The project allowed us to once again showcase our ability to produce high-quality bespoke composite components. “The development of a bodywork engineering process for the manufacture of the remaining 999 vehicles coincides with recent research conducted at URT to further improve our capabilities. Building on our previous experience in large-scale vehicle production for the defence industry, we plan to increase our manufacturing volumes to thousands across all sectors.” Detroit Electric’s CEO, Albert Lam, said: “We’re hugely impressed and grateful to URT for managing the bodywork production of our two show cars and delivering components that match our own high standards. URT’s input into developing a production process will prove very useful when we come to appoint a manufacturer for the remaining body shells.” www.urtgroupltd.com www.detroit-electric.com