Carbon Motors has a very bold plan to create the first purpose built police cruiser but right now it's not looking good for the company's future. The Department of Energy has rejected its application for a $310 million loan under the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing program. After an initial flurry of loans to Nissan, Ford, Tesla and Fisker in 2009, the program has slowed to a crawl in part as a result of GOP criticism.

While Carbon Motors had some very interesting ideas including powering the E7 with the awesome BMW 3.0-liter turbodiesel six, it's debatable whether the company could have succeeded commercially over the long run. After a long period where the old Ford Crown Victorias were dominant in the police car market, there is now a significant amount of competition including the Chevy Caprice, the Dodge Charger and the new Taurus and Explorer based Police interceptors from Ford. All of these vehicles are significantly more fuel efficient than the old Crown Vics and the companies building them will probably be around for a while.

My guess is that Carbon will soon follow in the footsteps of Bright Automotive and shutdown unless someone else steps up with a lot of funding.

#cars #carbonmotors #police

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Carbon Motors Corporation – Purpose Built Police Car, Police Vehicle, E7
Home of the world’s first purpose-built law enforcement patrol vehicle, the 'E7'. More than just a car, it's designed by law enforcement, for law enforcement.

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