Israeli SUV maker Tomcar has launched an electric version, which is produced alongside the petrol version. The new version is equipped with 38 kWh batteries and offers a range of about 150 km. It is possible to add an auxiliary motor that serves as a range extender and charges the battery in the field, and can double the range. The target audience is travelers who are looking for a quiet and economical tool, and security forces who need a secret tool that goes almost everywhere.
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The company, which was founded in the mid-1980s by Yoram Zarchi, has since undergone several incarnations, was sold to the Indian Hindra and then to the Markstone Foundation, and is now again controlled by the Zarchi family. The research and development and production for security customers is being carried out at the original plant in Givat Hashlosha, and at the end of last year production began in the US, this time in collaboration with Prince Manifacuring, which specializes in production for outside customers, at its facilities in North Carolina and El Paso, Mexico. The production rate reaches 100 units per month.
The US is the main market, the classic TM sells for about $ 20,000, the TX for about $ 40,000, and the electric model already reaches about $ 60,000, when you can choose between 2 or 4 seats and a pickup, and you can change the The configuration of the vehicle in the sales agencies even after the purchase.
“We have signed a contract with a leading company in the mining industry, which previously purchased tools from us with a diesel engine and is now switching to electricity to reduce pollution. , The son of Yoram, who manages the operations in the United States.
The petrol version is currently equipped with a turbo engine made by General Motors, with an output of 165 hp, which was previously sold in Israel in a Chevrolet Malibu. “Our agreement with General Motors guarantees us delivery of the engine until 2028. “.
Precisely in Israel, despite the growing demand in the last two years for 4×4 vehicles for hiking, there is currently no sale of civilian Tomcars. “If there seems to be a demand, we will make sure to meet it, meanwhile we are concentrating on North America and the Emirates,” says Ram.
At the same time, Tomcar has developed a platform for automatic vehicles for the defense market, in electric and hybrid versions. The aerospace industry has already built around it an autonomous tool that is competing in a huge British Army tender for a thousand tools, and has already succeeded in the first phase. “There is a lot of demand in the military market for autonomous tools, to save lives and deal with a shortage of recruits, and also to provide an initial response to disaster-stricken areas. “It also makes it easier for a vehicle with a computerized driver.”