It’s a twist that sounds like something from a Disney screenwriter’s playbook, the NEVS Emily GT, the electric sedan created by the company built from the ashes of Saab, might be heading for production.
NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden) became Saab’s owner in 2012 following the Swedish firm’s bankruptcy, but it also failed to make a go of the business and closed its doors in spring of this year, before the engineers working there had been given the chance to show the world the electric sedan they’d been working on.
But that project did see daylight shortly after when NEVS Program Director Peter Dahl revealed how his team had created a 483 hp (360 kW / 490 PS) sedan with four hub motors and a 600-mile (966 km) electric range in just 10 months. Dahl hoped that the resulting exposure might pique the interest of a wealthy investor looking for a turnkey EV program and it looks like that’s exactly what has happened.
Related: What’s The NEVS Emily GT Actually Like To Drive?
Sweden’s Auto, Motor und Sport claims that a secret investor wants to revive the project and build the sedan at Saab’s Trollhattan home, which was one of the conditions of the deal. AMS says the investor has signed a letter of intent to acquire both the Emily project and a related Pons mobility program.
So it looks like Saab engineers could once again be designing and building cars in a Saab factory, though those cars probably won’t get to wear the Saab name or griffin badge. Both belong to the Saab AB aerospace company who withdrew NEVS’ license to use the name in 2014 due to NEVS’ financial problems.
AMS’s editor-in-chief, Alrik Söderlind, suggests Sonnet, the name of Saab’s quirky 1970s sports car, as one possible alternative that maintains a clear connection to the original brand. What would you call it, and how do you rate this venture’s chance of survival?