Russia's biggest gun maker wants to take on Tesla with electric 'supercar'
Russia's biggest gun manufacturer is looking to take on Tesla with its new electric concept car.
Kalashnikov, maker of the AK-47 assault weapon, has gone retro with its new "supercar," the CV-1, unveiled at a Russian defense show near Moscow Thursday.
According to media outlets reporting at a press event at the expo, a Kalashnikov media rep said the car will "let us stand in the ranks of global electric car producers such as Tesla."
It certainly looks retro, with the design and body of an old-school IZh 21252 "Kombi" car — the Kombi came from a Soviet era car maker from the 1970s. It's a bold design decision, a vintage throwback akin to the Fujifilm Instax camera.
Aside from making guns, Kalashnikov had previously built electric motorcycles and electric "Ovum" vehicles that were used at the World Cup in Russia this summer. The electric motorcycles had been used last year for police patrolling roads. But mostly the company builds weapons. And the occasional salt-and-pepper shaker.
So, will the company's CV-1 "supercar" stand up to Tesla's electric empire?
A limited number of Tesla vehicles have been sold in Russia in the past few years.
Kalashnikov didn't give any pricing details for the potential vehicle, but the specs that the company provided didn't exactly stack up with Tesla.
Tesla's electric vehicles boast much more impressive stats. The CV-1 claims to have about a 200-mile range and go from 0 to 60 mph in 6 seconds. Tesla's newest affordable sedan, the Model 3, has a 220-mile range and a long-range battery that reaches 310 miles. The Model 3 can reach 60 mph in 3.5 seconds.
If the concept car isn't that impressive to you, check out the gun maker's walking robot named Igoryok, also unveiled at the defense show this week.
Topics Electric Vehicles Tesla
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
