Swift Composite Prototypes (SCP) is about to embark on an ambitious project to enter the electronic car market with the Alex Eroadster - an Irish made motor which it hopes to have on the road by the end of 2016.
The company plans to compete with the giants of the motor industry, and market leading startups like Elon Musk's Tesla by trying to find solutions to five problems that it has found across the eCar market.
These are dependability, speed, acceleration, safety issues and style concerns. Swift says that it has approached the project with a blank slate to offer a fresh approach.
One of the Co.Louth firm's key objectives is to make the car as light as possible - it says that it will do this by using advanced composite materials including Carbon Fibre and Kevlar (a material used in bullet proof vests and glass).
It hopes that the end product will be 30 percent lighter than similar sized cars.
"We approached the whole project from the point of view of addressing the problems currently associated with electric cars in general and also public perception of electric cars as a workable alternative to the internal combustion engine," the company said in a statement.
Taking inspiration from the Lotus 7, the car features a futuristic design and is entered through a liftable roof and door panel.
The Journal reports that models are likely to start at €30,000. The project has been part funded by the EU, and involved research from Queens University in Belfast and Dublin City University.
