Electrifi is to invest €50 million over the next 3 years, developing a range of high-performance electric cars in Co. Wicklow, becoming the first company to manufacture cars in Ireland in almost 40 years. Manufacturing has already begun in the Electrifi’s sister plant in Wales and the first cars will leave the Irish plant by the end of the year.
Electrifi was founded by Cork-born serial entrepreneur Norman Crowley, who aims to revive the car manufacturing industry in Ireland and create a catalyst for others to follow. The investment will see Electrifi, a division of Crowley Carbon, create over 150 jobs in the next three years.
Crowley said, “The global market opportunity in electric vehicles is predicted to top over $500 billion between now and 2025. This potential for transformative change creates huge opportunities for both new and existing players in the automotive sector. I believe a revived car manufacturing industry in Ireland could easily employ more than 30,000 people and has the potential to generate annual revenues of over €10 billion for the Irish economy.
Ireland is a knowledge-based economy and with our strong young talent pool, high education standards and reputation for ease of doing business, we are perfectly positioned to capitalise on the shift from polluting petrol cars to sophisticated digital vehicles. “Who would have envisaged 30 years ago that our technology sector would employ almost 300,000 people in Ireland, and be seen as a global centre of excellence?” he added.
Electrifi will initially take some of the world’s most iconic classic cars from Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin, and modify them into electric vehicles with Formula 1 style performance. The cars will be rebuilt and optimised with the latest technology and powered by Tesla batteries and motors. Electrifi is currently designing a new range of classic cars that will be fully Electrified and revealed in early 2020.
The company says car prices will initially start at €750,000 for the higher end models but cars in time will ultimately be available at entry level starting at €30,000. The company has already sold out its delivery capacity for its high model range for the next 18 months. The cars will be shipped to the UK, the Middle East and the US. However, visitors to the company’s Powerscourt Estate Headquarters will be able to view the cars up close being hand built and tested from later this year. Enterprise Ireland is supporting Electrifi through its continued support of Crowley Carbon.
Free Car Mag will be interviewing the founder in a forthcoming issue.