Malcolm Bricklin, the man known for bringing Subaru and Yugo to the U.S., says that he is working on a new prototype hybrid vehicle. The prototype is being built in the States, but Bricklin plans to save about $3,000 per vehicle by having them made in China.
Bricklin expects the vehicle to return 100 miles per gallon, and be available for sale in the U.S. by 2009. The first model he plans will be a 4-door sedan followed by a CUV, or crossover vehicle.
The vehicle is going to use lithium-ion batteries and have a plug-in hybrid system much like the one designed for the Chevy Volt, using an internal combustion engine to power the batteries, not the wheels.
It sounds like he has all the bases covered as far as technical specs, hitting on all the current buzzworthy trends: made in China, plug-in hybrid-drive, li-ion batteries, Crossover Utility Vehicle... did I miss anything?
This newest announcement comes after Bricklin and Chery broke off negotiations to bring new cars to the U.S. under the umbrella of his "Visionary Vehicles" company. Chery has gone on to sign an agreement with Daimler-Chrysler to build the Hornet concept.
[Source: USA Today]
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