Saab Begins Assembling EV Test Fleet

Because of the cash issues it is experiencing, the Saab Trollhattan isn't producing any cars for the masses at the moment (hopes are that production will be resumed this Friday, provided the knight in Chinese armor, Pang Da, receives a green light from the interested parties to come in and save the manufacturer), but that doesn't mean the facility has been abandoned altogether.

Saab's favorite blogger, Steven Wade, announced on Monday that the Saab facility has begun assembling the test fleet of 9-3 ePower electric vehicles that is to be deployed in Sweden for evaluation purposes. In all, some 70 such cars will be launched and tested.

The 9-3 ePower was introduced by Saab at the Paris Auto Show last year, and was presented as Saab’s first real venture into the new exciting world of electric driving. The model is fitted with an electric motor which develops 184 hp and a lithium-ion battery pack that be charged using a standard household outlet.

The electric 9-3, developed with the help of Boston Power, Electroengine, Innovatum and Power Circle) is capable of a naught to sixty acceleration in 8.5 seconds and can reach a top speed of 93 mph (150 km/h). The maximum range given by the battery is of about 124 miles (200 km).

Since the Swedish automaker has no dedicated line for the assembly on the electric vehicles, the ePowers are built by hand, each model taking about two weeks to complete. But since the test vehicles will not enter the market before 2012, that gives the car maker enough time to assemble them.