Thomas Bergfjord CEO of Electroengine in Sweden AB. What is the status of the project and have any electric cars been delivered?
The project is still in the developmental stage as Saab has only recently finished dealing with the questions surrounding its ownership and formal participation. But the process of developing the cars is now in full swing.

What is the next step after these 100 electric cars have been manufactured?
At Electroengine we hope and believe that this will be such a good car that SAAB will choose to take the next step towards production. Electroengine is currently developing very exciting solutions that can then be phased into future generations of these cars.

What are the most important experiences from the project so far?
Developing a safe and comfortable electrically-powered car that is also fun to drive is a very tough challenge. In my opinion the most challenging part is to find the balance between large energy storage capacity, roadholding characteristics and safety. The experiences we have so far valued most highly at Electroengine are the insights and lessons we have had about what it´s like to work at close quarters with a vehicle manufacturer. It is not always so easy to explain to everybody how complex a passenger car actually is.

You have developed a system for electric operation that can be installed in most new cars with an internal combustion engine. Tell me more about the system and how are sales going?
As a company Electroengine is very young with just over 20 employees at this point. We are still working on the development of our components in the True Electric® drivetrain, which we have installed in a number of prototype vehicles. We currently have a number of development projects underway with various partners on land and at sea and are very positive about the future.

Your business concept is briefly the electrification of standard cars. Please tell me more and expand on this.
We believe that the development costs for developing whole new platforms for pure electric operation are too large, given the relatively modest volumes (in the vehicle manufacturers´ eyes) which are expected in the short term. In addition, we believe that the development at the component and system level will start going so quickly that these new platforms will shortly have to be adapted once again. For this reason we believe that adapting platforms already developed to a lesser extent is a better and faster way for implementing electric operation.
In addition, most customers have grown accustomed to the attractive, safe and comfortable vehicles we now have with all their options for comfort and convenience. We believe that the step is too large for many of them to sit themselves in a small car with a minimalist design and lower level of collision safety. Or the other way round, won´t it become easier to open up a larger market for electric vehicles if we have attractive and safe cars?
Electroengine´s True Electric® system is modular and scalable, which means that we use the same basic components for virtually all development projects and vehicle types that we are currently working on.

Could this interest in electric cars be a passing phase perhaps?
We are fully convinced that the electric car is here to stay and will dominate the automotive market for the next 15-20 years. However, we do not share the most optimistic view that is sometimes put forward in terms of volumes in the near future. Instead we believe that there will be a significant differentiation in terms of propulsion options.

What are you doing about the battery issue?
The so-called battery pack in an electric car represents a major part of the production cost. One of our most important components in the electric drivetrain is our proprietary battery management system TEBS®. It allows for greater energy output as well as the replacement of individual battery cells if necessary. This approach reduces the risk of the customer having to bear the cost of an entire battery pack if anything breaks.

What do think about the range-extender in electric cars?
We welcome this. However, you should be aware that if the range-extender becomes so powerful that the vehicle can be utilized fully during the extended operation, it means that you have basically integrated two full-scale propulsion systems - and that is inevitably expensive. But like everything else it should be adapted to the specific needs of the application in question.

Which companies are you working with today?
Primarily we are working together with SAAB Automobile for passenger cars and Nimbus on the motorboat side. But there are additional projects with well-known operators that we cannot name at the mow

How does the future look for you? Is Sweden the main focus, or do you have the world market in mind?
Our ultimate goal is to become a world leader in technology for electric operation.

Where will Electroengine be in 2015?
By 2015 we will have well-functioning development and production. We are producing leading components and systems for electric propulsion of different types of vehicles.