Saab-Engineered Emily GT Won’t Be Italian Made

Remember the NEVS Emily GT, the electric luxury sedan developed and built by former SAAB engineers? EV Electra, the EV startup that purchased the rights to this vehicle last year, has purchased a factory in Italy, where it intends to build electric cars. Could this be the first sign of the potential BMW i5 rival coming to fruition?

Upon hearing that EV Electra had purchased the facility, the automotive grapevine buzzed with rumors suggesting the Emily GT would be produced in Italy. However, CEO Jihad M. Mohammad dismissed this as a rumor, stating he had not spoken to anyone about the company’s plans in Italy. In a post on LinkedIn, Mohammad wrote, “I haven’t spoken to anyone in the Swedish media, and I gave no details, neither positive [nor] negative… simply nothing. I don’t know if [there’s] another version of me they speak to.”

So Where Will It Be Built?

When EV Electra purchased the rights to the Emily GT and Pons electric vehicles last year, it said it had planned to build the former at Saab’s old Trolhattan plant in Sweden. However, it would appear these plans have fallen by the wayside. The chief executive claims the factory was sold two weeks before his offer. Despite offering €100 million to purchase the facility, the new owner allegedly wanted €200 million.

In another LinkedIn post, Mohammad confirmed that his company’s offer to purchase an unspecified auto factory in Italy had been approved. “In this new venue, we will build electric cars that will make everyone shocked,” he wrote, not adding which vehicles will be assembled at the facility. “We have more than a few models now, after multiple acquisitions that happened in [the] last two months, and one more is happening this week that will allow us to be on top of our game.”

Coming In 2024?

EV Electra plans to reveal more details soon, with an official press release scheduled for release later this week. Here’s hoping more information regarding new models and the current status of the Emily GT will be shared. It’s worth noting that Mohammad said four months ago that “Emily GT will be produced in 2024 one way or another.” When the shapely electric sedan was revealed in 2022, NEVS – the company that sold the Emily GT to EV Electra – developed a quad-motor prototype with combined outputs of 480 horsepower and 620 miles of range on the WLTP cycle.

The automaker added that an even more potent model with 653 hp was also on the cards. The company said it was targeting a 0-60 mph time of 3.2 seconds. A 175 kWh battery was initially planned, but it remains to be seen whether these details stay the same. Since the acquisition, EV Electra has previewed additional body styles for the Emily GT: a station wagon, a classy convertible, and a sleek-looking coupe. There’s no word on when this line of vehicles will arrive or where they will be built, but the company CEO has said that former SAAB dealerships will get the first option on whether to retail these vehicles.