The American company Mullen Automotive has bought the rights to the Chinese electric car Qiantu K50, an electric sports car which is therefore about to make a comeback. Rebadged (Mullen GT) and redesigned, it has a new name and should notably hunt on the land of the Tesla Roadster when it is ready. But autonomy will not be its strong point.
You’ve probably never heard of the Qiantu K50, and truth be told, that’s completely normal. Because the electric car, unveiled in 2018 at the Beijing Motor Show was marketed only in its native market, China. She will have had a particularly short career, as the company fell victim to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. We might think that’s how the story ended. But it is nothing.
A new start
During the marketing of its K50, Qiantu signs a partnership with the American company Mullen so that it produces the sports car in the United States. And it is thanks to the company that it finally rises from its ashes, after a small dispute between the two companies to the tune of 6 million dollars.
As announced by the Californian firm in a press release, it therefore now has full rights to the electric coupe, renamed Mullen GT and GTRS. In return, and as the American site explains InsideEVsthe manufacturer undertakes to pay Qiantu $1,200 for each car sold for five years. He also needs to buy a number of vehicle kits from the Chinese company.
But apart from that, Mullen can do anything with the sports car, and even redesign it mechanically. This is precisely what the company is about to do, which has already started to rework the design. We note for example that the flanks benefit from a new pencil stroke, as well as the front bumper. However, the changes remain fairly discreet.
For the time being, no photo of the cockpit revised by Mullen has been shown, but it should undoubtedly remain close to the original. This is distinguished by a large 15.6-inch touchscreen which reminds us of that of the all-new Ford Explorer, which we were able to discover in preview. It is associated with a digital handset of an equally impressive size.
A supercar in the making
But the American company does not just redesign the car. Because it will also transform it into a real supercar. As a reminder, the Qiantu K50 has a power of 320 kW (about 435 horsepower) for 680 Nm from two electric motors. The maximum speed is displayed at 200 km / h for a 0 to 100 km / h shot in 4.6 seconds.
The new version should perform the same exercise in less than two seconds and reach a speed of 320 km/h in its GTRS variant. Thus, the sports car would be able to compete directly with the future Tesla Roadster, the launch of which is constantly being postponed, just like the Cybertruck which should arrive during the summer.
The GT version will be a little less radical, with a 0 to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds and a power of 375 horsepower for 580 Nm. Mullen does not communicate on the battery, which displays a capacity of 78.8 kWh on the Qiantu K50. The autonomy of the new sports car should be greater than 400 kilometers if it takes over the original 78 kWh battery. To be compared with the monstrous autonomy of the Tesla Roadster, announced for 1,000 km.
It remains to be seen whether this Mullen K50 will one day be marketed in Europe. This cannot be ruled out, since the company is preparing to launch its I-GO city car on the Old Continent in the coming months. This rival of the Dacia Spring will cost around 15,000 euros.
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