Geely Automobile Group and Detroit Electric Inc. entered into a partnership to co-develop electric vehicles (EVs), and electric drive systems, for the Chinese marketplace. The companies made this announcement at the Shanghai Motor Show. They added that the partnership also includes the formation of a joint venture company to manufacture EV powertrain components.

According to the companies, they selected Geely’s Emgrand EC7 model as the base vehicle that will receive the electric drive system and plan to co-brand the EC7-EV with a “Detroit Electric – Technology” badge. Both companies plan to sell the vehicles to businesses and public-sector organizations first, and are looking at an initial sales forecast of 3,000 units during the first 12 months of sales. They expect sales to grow to 30,000 units within three years.

Geely and Detroit Electric said they have formed a joint development and engineering team to develop the electric motor, vehicle management system, advanced thermo-managed battery pack, battery management system, and a twin-speed high-torque gearbox.

For the vehicle itself, the companies said the EC7-EV will offer medium- and long-range driving options. The range is 165km per charge for the medium option and 258km for long range. The vehicle can accelerate from 0 to 100kph in under 8 seconds and has a top speed of more than 200kph.

The companies said the first all-electric EVs will go on sale under Geely's Emgrand brand in 2014.