the work formerly done at Coda, which filed
for bankruptcy protection in 2013. Mullen
purchased assets from the now-defunct EV
maker, including its manufacturing license
and unsold vehicles.
However, the Qiantu K50 is a world away
from the old Coda sedan, which sold only
in small numbers before the company’s
demise. Mullen plans to use the K50 as a soft
entry into full-scale, in-house EV design and
manufacturing. It is forming small engineering
teams to oversee the homologation changes
and plans for an assembly, manufacturing and
R&D center in Spokane, Washington, were
announced in April, shortly after the K50
was shown at the New York International
Auto Show. An IPO at an unnamed future
date is expected to unlock funding for further
product development.
“It’s an organic approach – as opposed to just
dropping 1,000 engineers into a room and trying
to figure out how to all get going in the same
direction – and much less capital-intensive,”
says McMahon, a former Fisker engineer. “It
enables us to grow an organization as we build
up to designing, engineering and manufacturing
our own battery-electric vehicle. We’re already
in the design phase of that as well. We expect
the K50 to come out in the second half of
2020 and if everything plays out the way it’s
supposed to, in 2022 Mullen will have its own
battery-electric vehicle.”
3. The permanent magnet,
synchronous motors
enable torque vectoring
4. The Qiantu K50 has
a 47/53 rear-biased
weight distribution
5. The T-shaped battery
pack has two modules in
the center tunnel and eight
behind the rear seats
www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com // July 2019 // 31
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TECH INSIDER | MULLEN QIANTU K50
/www.electrichybridvehicletechnology.com