NEVS, the Chinese-backed company that acquired Saab in 2019 after the Swedish carmaker’s multiple financial troubles, has revealed a never-before-seen all-electric sports sedan known as the Emily GT.
The working, driving EV was developed in just ten months from scratch and, just like the Saab brand that precedes it, it has a really interesting story as well as a tragic end because NEVS’ owner – the now-infamous Evergrande real estate group – decided to put an end to all product development.
The project began in 2019 in Trollhattan, the original hometown of Saab, where NEVS continued working and even developed an all-electric version of the aging 9-3 sedan that went on to be assembled in a brand-new factory in China.
Saab’s former Brand Design Chief, Simon Padian, is credited with leading the Emily GT project and his previous involvement in models like the last-generation Saab 9-5 is evident in the way the secretive EV looks like, especially in the C-pillar area, which is reminiscent of the former Swedish carmaker’s models.
According to Carup and Saab Planet, six working prototypes were built by a team of around 350 engineers and technicians, using four in-wheel electric motors that develop a combined output of 480 horsepower, with a subsequent version envisioned to offer 653 hp and a massive 1,617 pound-feet (2,200 Newton-meters) of torque.
Peter Dahl, Program Director at NEVS, said that they used the Porsche Panamera and Taycan as benchmarks during development, which is quite a high bar.
Gallery: NEVS Emily GT
”It is a spacious car with a lot of driving pleasure. It is very easy and stable to drive. It has a unique balance between comfort and driving pleasure, but can still be a family car,” he said.
The NEVS Emily GT was designed to accommodate a huge, 175-kilowatt-hour battery pack that would allow a maximum driving range of over 620 miles (1,000 kilometers). However, the prototypes are using a 52 kWh battery taken from the aforementioned electric Saab 9-3.
With a luxurious-looking interior and a 0-62 miles per hour (0-100 kilometers per hour) sprint in just 4.6 seconds, the prototype seems to be extremely promising and would make for a great Tesla Model S rival, if it made it into production. Even Christian von Koenigsegg was impressed with the way the prototypes drive.
But, as with Saab before it, NEVS and its Emily GT project seem to be doomed.
Backed by the Chinese real-estate giant Evergrande, which was recently involved in one of the biggest financial scandals in Asia, NEVS has been put into hibernation and all development work has been halted.
”The project is about 1.5 years away from being able to go into production. Everything is in place to take it further into production. The prototypes are completely drivable, except that the airbag and Autobraking systems are missing”, said Peter Dahl for Carup.
With this being said, it looks like the intellectual property related to the project, as well as all six prototypes, are for sale, so there is hope for this interesting Swedish project. In the right hands, it could make a comeback as a stylish and sporty EV under a different brand.
As always we’d like to know what you think about this, so head over to the comments section below to give us your thoughts.
