Honestly, I don’t know if this car is going to go or not, but I hope so. It’s cool.
Indiana’s economy is a great study in diversity and depth, and so strength and stability follow as key characteristics. With agriculture on one end of the spectrum and high technology on the other, and every kind of industry imaginable in between, the state is good bet for business development and investment. One significant example of this is what’s happening in Connersville.
Carbon Motors was formed in 2003 by a highly experienced group of forward thinking, forward looking industry professionals to address a fundamental need of public safety and for homeland defense use: A custom designed, custom built law enforcement vehicle, the E-7. It is based on a purpose-built aluminum “spaceframe” body structure to be coupled with a six-cylinder BMW turbo-diesel engine. In fact in March of this year Carbon Motors signed a contract with BMW for 240,000 copies. It is apparent they fully expect to take large orders.
While Fortune magazine has named the Carbon E-7 as one of the top ten brands to watch for, and production is slated for late 2013, we remain cautiously hopeful it will actually happen at all. With that said, Carbon’s pitch is a good one. All the requisite detail has been covered, including their promise that the vehicle will be comparatively priced with the traditional cruisers, namely the retrofitted Ford Crown Victoria, but with much more capability. In fact, that’s their strongest point: Price is to be where the comparisons end.
The E-7 is intended to be fully customized from every possible angle, from its performance capabilities to the detail of the seating and cockpit: An officer will be able to step in and out, to and from seats designed specifically to accommodate all the equipment carried on the officer’s utility belt without catching or discomfort, and the cockpit console and dashboard will be nearly unrecognizable to a civilian. According to Carbon’s website, it will have “fully-integrated factory fitted law enforcement equipment” such as “an integrated computer system with a…multifunction 15-inch… touchscreen and keyboard” – as many as thirty purpose-designed features and options.
The E-7 is also planned to incorporate what Carbon Motors calls their Threat Detection system: it “will utilize weapons-of-mass-destruction sensors, automatic license plate recognition, infrared cameras and [a] proprietary On-board Rapid Command Architecture (ORCA™)” – a system that will “link the vehicle with central dispatch, crime databases and even other police cars.” Pretty impressive.
And the bottom line is this: Orders. When agencies begin placing orders, it will happen. Show Me The Money.
What can you do?
1. To get properly impressed yourself, and to reinforce that impression with a healthy dose of Hoosier pride and a strong sense of hope and anticipation for success in Connersville, spend a little time at their website: http://www.carbonmotors.com/.
2. When there, sign up to receive updates on Carbon’s progress.
3. Consider calling, chatting informally with, or writing to your local and state law enforcement agencies to encourage them to seriously look at this vehicle and the opportunities for Indiana.
4. Write to your representatives in Congress to do the same.
Michael E Conner
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