The Kalashnikov Group, made famous as the company behind the AK-47 Soviet-era assault rifle, has revealed an electric car it says will be a serious competitor to Tesla.
The CV-1, which was presented at a product exhibition is Moscow last week, received a mixed reaction from Muscovites. While some took to Twitter to say the car was proof the Russian economy was ready to compete with the United States’ in the high-tech vehicle arena, others joked about the prototype’s decidedly Soviet-era design.
Indeed, most Western observers have been perplexed by the gun manufacturer’s decision to both paint its vehicle an uninspiring powder blue and to have its design harken back to the poorly engineered 1970s government-issued station wagons that dominated Soviet roadways.
According to Kalashnikov, the vehicle is able accellerate from 0-60 miles-per-hour in six seconds, compared to the Tesla Model S’s 1.98 seconds. Its battery also does not compare to 500 km-per-charge competitor, with the CV-1 said to peter-out at about 350 km. It is unclear when the weapons manufacturer intends to bring the CV-1 to market, or what its price will be. While the design choices seem to suggest that the manufacturer is marketing the vehicle towards Russian drivers, Kalashnikov has not ruled out worldwide sales.
