What Happened to Carbon Motors E7?

TCO

Member
May 21, 2010
808
Malvern,Pa
guess they had less than desired interest in the concept and decided to get out before losing anymore cash
 
Nov 21, 2010
440
Pelican Rapids, MN
Have I missed something? Carbon's website is still up and claims they have almost 16,000 reservations from all 50 states. I think it is an ok idea, but not practical. One size doesn't fit all. How many dept.'s use a single vehicle for all? The cost seems like it will be out of reach for the rural agencies I upfit. Who is going to service the cars? We sure don't have a BMW dealer nearby, if they would even service the car. Anyway, being an upfitter, I kind of hope they fail or it will only be a matter of time before they cut into my bottom line. If they do, good for them. Competition is what makes our "free" market tick and I'll just have to grow my business in different directions to stay competitive.
 

FreshDave04

Member
Jun 30, 2010
3,000
Elkhart, IN
Cabon Motors is still very much in business. They're still working on getting government funding, financial backers, etc... they've actually started a "Carbon Campus" for manufacturing in Indiana. Check out their Facebook page - they're updating it all the time.
 

jetstream1

Member
Nov 17, 2010
45
IN
I have driven by thier factory. in connersville indiana, once a week for last 6 months and havent seen any real activity thier. just 2 old crown vics sitting in the front parking lot.
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
It's a nice idea.... it's just a little much for most departments gadget, cost and maintenance wise.
 

rwo978

Member
May 21, 2010
5,196
ND, USA
2 words... 'who cares?' Just another concept car IMHO.
 

Patrol 3-8

Member
Jun 7, 2010
44
US Ohio
in their video they quote officers complaining that the fire and EMS have "purpose built" vehicles and they dont...other than tactical operations how do you build a vehicle that patrols the streets, pursues vehicles, and transports suspects? oh, wait...they already did that...its called a car. other than "interceptor packages" there just sedans....the E7 is just another sedan with pretty wee woos and beefed up this or that...well, thats my thought anyhow...
 

JohnMarcson

Administrator
May 7, 2010
10,971
Northwest Ohio
Patrol 3-8 said:
in their video they quote officers complaining that the fire and EMS have "purpose built" vehicles and they dont...other than tactical operations how do you build a vehicle that patrols the streets, pursues vehicles, and transports suspects? oh, wait...they already did that...its called a car. other than "interceptor packages" there just sedans....the E7 is just another sedan with pretty wee woos and beefed up this or that...well, thats my thought anyhow...


Yeah, good point. A ambulance is just a truck with a box added.... a police car is just a car with a cage added... (over simplifications).... but seriously.. fire trucks are really the only 100% purpose built emergency vehicle.... even then 35% are commercial chassis.
 
Jul 14, 2010
1,639
S.W. Ohio USA
It seemed like an OK idea at first, but now that the big 3 are in the market again, forget it. I had to fight for our "regularly priced" cars as it was. No way in hell anyone would have approved a car costing twice as much, even with twice the life span. Plus, accidents happen, and local body shops know how to fix the common body style cruisers just fine. Probably not so much with a custom bodied car. And besides, after 100k miles, you are just plain tired of a car, and want to upgrade not only the car, but equipment, graphics, etc.
 
Nov 5, 2010
129
nowhere ky
also fire apparatus are designed to be in service for 30 years. I dont see carbon motors making it. after the life of the car then what? cant really sell them to the public... do they buy them back for new ones? Crown will become a CAB or daily river down teh road.. just a thought
 

Park Ranger

Member
Nov 28, 2010
27
Michigan
code60a said:
I've said all along that it will end up being vaporware. It's not a bad concept, I just can't see them actually pulling it off.

JohnMarcson said:
It's a nice idea.... it's just a little much for most departments gadget, cost and maintenance wise.

^^^ Pretty much sums up my feelings.
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
 

HILO

Member
May 20, 2010
2,781
Grand Prairie Texas
I still think it looks like an acura.
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
FireEMSPolice said:
Hopefully, no

Why don't you want it to happen? It's yet another way to cater to some police departments' efforts at spending too much money. If they have the money and want to spend it this way, I figure it's better than some things they could spend it on - and also, since so many police departments seem bent on putting too many lights on their cars, this one comes standard from the manufacturer with too many lights built-in so they don't have to put extra effort into buying them separately and getting them installed...
 
Nov 21, 2010
440
Pelican Rapids, MN
nerdly_dood said:
Why don't you want it to happen? It's yet another way to cater to some police departments' efforts at spending too much money. If they have the money and want to spend it this way, I figure it's better than some things they could spend it on - and also, since so many police departments seem bent on putting too many lights on their cars, this one comes standard from the manufacturer with too many lights built-in so they don't have to put extra effort into buying them separately and getting them installed...

The reason I hope this doesn't succeed is that it potentially could cut into my bottom line as a professional up-fitter.
 

nerdly_dood

Member
Jun 15, 2010
2,312
Georgia
code4services.com said:
The reason I hope this doesn't succeed is that it potentially could cut into my bottom line as a professional up-fitter.

I still think that it'll mainly be a small minority compared to what Ford and Chevy are offering.
 

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