A major electric car event is coming to Finland, and its founder has a vision: Finns could help save the classic brand.
Electric cars should definitely be built en masse in Finland.
This is what the organizer of the E-Car Expo, which proclaims itself to be Europe's largest electric car event, says Gunnar Dackevall.
The Swedish Dackevall fairs have toured the Nordic countries, and next year they will come to Finland. Dackevall presented his visions to HS in advance and estimated that the Finns could help electrify the bankrupt Saab.
“That would be very Scandinavian.”
Let's repeat closely related story: Saab went bankrupt in 2011.
A company named Nevs, which designed electric cars, rose on its ruins. Looks like a fusion of Tesla and Saab Emily GT -car was almost finished with Chinese money.
Last spring, Nevs announced going into “hibernation” and said he was leaving Saab's iconic Trollhättan factory. The Emily project was bought a Canadian startupwho would like to build a car in Trollhättan.
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“Uusellakaupunki would have better opportunities.”
Dackevall snaps his fingers a couple of times to demonstrate that a dormant car factory is not just woken up like that.
“The entire staff should be brought back there, and everything should be modernized, because there was no major production there for ten years,” says Dackevall.
“I think Uusellakaupunki would have better opportunities.”
Valmet Automotive's car factory is operating at full capacity in Uusikaupunki. The factory retired last year two small electric car brands. Should the “electric Saab” be built there?
“Absolutely.”
Gunnar Dackevall believes that the price of cars is a decisive factor in the electrification of passenger car traffic.
Dackevall's and the destinies of the car are intertwined in such a way that Emily's prototype was on display at her fair in December in Gothenburg.
We must remember that the rumors about the “return of Saab” are an urban legend of gas stations both here and in our western neighbor. There is currently no information on concrete plans for manufacturing in Finland.
Dackevall still thinks it is important that the fate of euro tokens is discussed publicly and game op
enings are made.
“[Teslan] Elon Musk only talks about Chinese brands as his competitors. It is of course worrying for Euro brands.”
On the other hand, the concept of the euro mark is beginning to waver. Two Swedish companies, Volvo and Polestar, are Chinese-owned.
Dackevall says that he himself bought a fully Chinese electric car as a company car. He justifies that this way he gets a feel for the development of the Far East.
All world brands are scheduled to be presented a year from now in April in Helsinki, when Dackevall's event comes to Messukeskus. Does it make sense to hold traditional fairs nowadays?
“I think it's even more reasonable than before, because it's difficult for people find cars. New brands don't even bother to build big premises, they go directly to the market with the help of online shopping. Tesla took this to the extreme,” says Dackevall and points out how to buy a car today:
“You get an address, you go to a parking lot, no one is there, you open the car doors with your phone and drive away.”
Electric cars trade is slowing down in the Nordic countries, and according to Dackevall, “it's about the wallet” and not fear of switching to new technology.
He believes in latent demand, if prices and interest rates were lower and devaluation easier to predict. For example, Tesla has made such sudden price drops that the value of previously purchased cars is tons evaporated in an instant.
Dackevall estimates that you can always win in the race itself. Electric kilometers are cheaper.
“If you commute to work a hundred kilometers in one direction with a sufficient battery, that 200 kilometer repeated trip is so much cheaper than with a combustion engine.”
He encourages Finland to follow Denmark. Based on the number of cars, the countries are at a similar stage of development, but the Jutes may adopt electricity faster. According to him, the country is “perfect for electric cars”.
“No hills, short distances. Their development progresses very quickly.”
This is what it looked like last year at the Copenhagen electric car fair.
E-Car Expo it is not yet known which cars will be seen in Helsinki. Negotiations are in progress.
Electric car fairs have one advantage compared to traditional car fairs. Cars can be kept on and driven indoors without exhaust fumes.
What comes to electric Saab, the project is still completely open. The current Canadian owner formulated it in his announcement at the end of January thus:
“The company is currently making inquiries with the intention of reaching a contract manufacturing partnership to start production of the Emily GT.”
It is possible that the dump truck will pass on to a new owner. That may be a shame: the few who have tried the prototype describe the Emily as an excellent car.
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