EV Electra is a Lebanese

start-up A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses that do not intend ...

working in the manufacture of

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

s in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. The company emerged from ''Jihad Mohammad Investments Company'' to be an independent company with branches in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, with the company's headquarters being based in Khalde, Lebanon. EV Electra has established a centre dedicated to research and development in the field of electric vehicles, the first example of such an office in the Middle East.

History

Founding

EV Electra was established in 2017 by Lebanese-born Canadian-Palestinian businessman Jihad Mohammad, who acts as the chairman and CEO of the company. The company has about 300 employees. In 2020, EV Electra announced plans to reveal the 'Quds Rise', a two seater, electric sports car reportedly capable of reaching 165 km/h, with a maximum range of 400 km between charges. The unveiling of the car was delayed to 2021, however, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The car was subsequently revealed in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, with deliveries expected to begin in late 2021, and the car being priced at approximately $30,000. Production never materialised. The car was unveiled during the Lebanese economic crisis, in which imported car sales hit a record low. The name 'Quds' is derived from the Arabic name for

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

; Al Quds. The company later revealed plans to set up 100 recharging stations around Lebanon, connected to generators. EV Electra subsequently revealed the Quds Capital ES electric sedan, alongside various other renderings of concept vehicles.

Acquisition of Detroit Electric

In November 2021, EV Electra acquired a majority stake in

Detroit Electric The Detroit Electric was an electric car produced by the Anderson Electric Car Company in Detroit, Michigan. The company built 13,000 electric cars from 1907 to 1939. The marque was revived in 2008 by Albert Lam, former Group CEO of the Lotus En ...

, a car company founded in 2008 by Albert Lam, and named after the car of the same name produced by the Anderson Electric Car Company from 1907-1939. The investment was intended to allow Detroit Electric to "expand its operations in Europe and Asia, with the aim of producing several EV and hydrogen electric hybrid models over the next five years."

Cancelled deal with NEVS

In December 2023, Jihad Mohammad announced that EV Electra had purchased the rights to the

NEVS NEVS AB (an abbreviated form of "National Electric Vehicle Sweden") was a Swedish electric car manufacturer which acquired the assets of Saab Automobile from a bankruptcy estate in 2012. After facing numerous financial difficulties, the compa ...

Emily GT and PONS Robotaxi projects. A joint statement with NEVS revealed that revealed that EV Electra would soon begin to produce cars in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, with Mohammad adding that cars will soon be produced at the Swedish

Trollhättan Assembly Trollhättan Assembly is an automobile factory in Trollhättan, Sweden. The factory opened in 1947 under the ownership of Saab AB, then passing to Saab Automobile. From 1989 to 2010, the factory was partially (1989–1999), then completely (2000� ...

again. Despite this, EV Electra failed to secure a development site in Trollhättan, instead purchasing a factory in

, leading to NEVS cancelling the agreement and proceeding with the project independently.

HiPhi

In May 2025, EV Electra acquired a majority stake in Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer

HiPhi HiPhi was an electric vehicle brand of Human Horizons, founded by Ding Lei (businessman, born 1963), Ding Lei and headquartered in Shanghai. Its first vehicle, HiPhi X, was released on 31 July 2019. In February 2024, the company halted produc ...

for $100 million. EV Electra now owns 69.8% of the car brand.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://evelectra.com/ Companies of Lebanon Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2017 Electric vehicle manufacturers Car brands 2017 establishments in Lebanon