The Carbon Motors Corporation was an American

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

manufacturer headquartered in

Connersville Connersville is a city in Fayette County, east central Indiana, United States, east by southeast of Indianapolis. The population was 13,481 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of and the largest and only incorporated town in F ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Formed in 2003, Carbon Motors was notable for designing the Carbon Motors E7, a purpose-built

police car A police car (also called a police cruiser, police interceptor, patrol car, area car, cop car, prowl car, squad car, radio car, or radio motor patrol) is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols a ...

. After a government loan request failed, the company closed in 2013.

History

Carbon Motors Corporation was founded in

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California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, by Stacy Dean Stephens and William Santana Li (a former police officer and former

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

executive, respectively) in 2003. Carbon Motors Corporation moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in 2006, where it continued to develop its product and gain investors. In July 2009, the company relocated their headquarters to

, with plans to invest $350 million into converting a former

Visteon Visteon Corporation (VC) is an American global automotive electronics supplier and Fortune 500 company spun off from the Ford Motor Company in 2000. Visteon is composed of multiple businesses that design, engineer, and manufacture vehicle cockpit ...

plant there. On March 22, 2010, Carbon Motors signed a contract with BMW for the delivery of 240,000 six-cylinder diesel engines. On March 7, 2012, media reported that the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States ...

(DOE) had denied a loan request of $310 million applied for under the

Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program is a $25 billion direct loan program funded by Congress in fall 2008 to provide debt capital to the U.S. automotive industry for the purpose of funding projects that help vehicles ...

with Energy Secretary

Steven Chu Steven Chu Carbon Motors officials had worked with the DOE over the prior two years to address concerns about Carbon Motors' plans. Carbon Motors criticized the DOE's reasons for refusing the loan as politically motivated and related to the 2012 elections. Another Indiana startup,

Bright Automotive Bright Automotive was a startup company in Anderson, Indiana, working to create a fuel-efficient line of plug-in electric vehicles.Fehrenbacher, Katie. "The First Investment from GM's VC Arm: Bright Automotive: Cleantech News and Analysis «." G ...

, was forced to end operations the week before after applying for the same loan in 2008 and being unable to continue waiting for the DOE to act on the application. On March 13, 2012, Secretary Chu testified before a Senate hearing partly related to claims made by Carbon Motors CEO William Santana Li regarding the politicization of loans granted by the DOE stating "Politics is not a factor, period. It has to do with the finances of the company, the viability of the loan." In early March 2013, Carbon Motors began to remove equipment and vacate the plant in Connersville. The lease on the plant was allowed to expire on March 31, 2013. The company's website and

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channel were taken down around the same time. By April 2013, the company effectively shut down. On May 22, 2013, three former Carbon Motors executives filed a lawsuit against the company for unpaid, deferred wages.

Carbon Motors E7

Carbon Motors was formed to develop and produce the E7, the first purpose-built police car ever made. The E7 was to be only available for

law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEA ...

to purchase. The

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

was first revealed in 2008 on the "Pure Justice" tour. The E7 had an expected release date of 2012. It was designed in part by American law enforcement officers for the sole purpose of producing a vehicle to be most effective to police. The company stated that, in order to keep the vehicle out of private ownership, when an agency wishes to dispose of an E7, it would either be sold to another law enforcement agency or returned to the factory to be parted out. The price was intended to be "competitive" considering the cost of equipping a conventional car for police work and how long each vehicle lasts. The Carbon E7 was to be built to last 250,000 miles, compared with 75,000 to 120,000 miles for the typical patrol car.

Specifications

The vehicle was to be equipped with a BMW

straight-six The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bal ...

turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

, which is more fuel efficient than current

gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...

police car engines. It was designed to be rear wheel drive, have a six-speed

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (sometimes abbreviated to auto or AT) is a multi-speed transmission used in internal combustion engine-based motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving ...

, be governed to a top speed of 155 mph, and accelerate from

0-60 mph The time it takes a vehicle to accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour (0 to 97 km/h or 0 to 27 m/s), often said just "zero to sixty", is a commonly used performance measure for automotive acceleration in the United States and the ...

in 6.5 seconds. It also featured numerous safety features, including 75 mph rear-impact crash capability, and optional ballistic protection panels. The vehicle also had law enforcement equipment designed into the vehicle intended to be installed during production so agencies would not need to purchase equipment from other companies and then install them on the vehicle. The front seats of the E7 were designed for comfort while wearing a duty belt.

Equipment

According to Carbon Motors Corporation, the E7 was to have numerous features and options available, including: * NIJ Level III-A (or better) ballistic protection (front doors and dash panel) * Purpose-designed seat for use with on-body equipment and seat heating and ventilation *

Head-up display A head-up display, or heads-up display, also known as a HUD (), is any transparent display that presents data without requiring users to look away from their usual viewpoints. The origin of the name stems from a pilot being able to view informa ...

* Reverse backup camera * Remote start capability * Engine features to enable extended idling as well as operating in extreme conditions (heat and cold) * Driver-specific intelligent key * 360 degree exterior surveillance capability, with fully automatic recording * Automatic

license plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificatio ...

recognition system, programmable and upgradeable * Video and audio surveillance of rear passenger compartment * Nightvision compliant interior illumination * Integrated forward looking infrared system (

FLIR Forward-looking infrared (FLIR) cameras, typically used on military and civilian aircraft, use a thermographic camera that senses infrared radiation. The sensors installed in forward-looking infrared cameras, as well as those of other thermal ...

) * Integrated

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small pellet-like spherical sub- pr ...

and

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

mounts * Secure weapons storage * Optimized storage capability (compartment and cargo), to store police gear ranging from spare restraints to

forensic Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...

equipment * Integrated front and rear passenger compartment partition * Isolated ventilation for front and rear compartments * Rear seats designed to accommodate

handcuffed ''Handcuffed'' is a 1929 American silent mystery film directed by Duke Worne and starring Virginia Brown Faire, Wheeler Oakman and Dean Jagger.Munden p.322 Synopsis Gerald Morely's father is ruined in a stock fraud and commits suicide. When sho ...

suspects/prisoners * Security features to prevent escape of prisoners * Rear passenger compartment designed to be washed by hosing down * Integrated push bumpers and PIT capability * Integrated aerodynamic emergency lights with

sirens Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisco ...

In popular culture

The Carbon E7 is featured in the 2010 video game '' Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit'' as one of the vehicles available for use when playing as a police officer. While most other playable vehicles (such as the

Ford Crown Victoria The Ford Crown Victoria ("Crown Vic") is a full-size sedan that was marketed and manufactured by Ford. The successor to the Ford LTD Crown Victoria, two generations of the model line were produced from the 1992 to 2012 model years. The Fo ...

Dodge Charger The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over seven generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. The Charger has ...

, and other well-known vehicles) have performance statistics such as top speed listed, most of the E7's statistics are listed as "CLASSIFIED". However, the vehicle was removed from the remastered version of the game released in 2020 due to Carbon being defunct and the car never entering production.Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Remastered is missing some classic cars
/ref>

References

https://web.archive.org/web/20100529055709/http://www.carbonmotors.com/news-releases/list/2

External links

Carbon Motors homepage

* ttp://www.auto-news.it/Notizie/Attualita/ Article at Autonews.itbr>Article at Autoblog.it2010 Design News article
{{Automotive industry in the United States Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2003 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 2013 Police vehicles Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States