The Maker of the AK-47 Is Entering the Electric Car Market

There&#x27;s so much wrong with this car there&#x27;s absolutely no way it goes to market.<p>It&#x27;s a publicity stunt or a one off modified car for brand awareness. Not a production model.<p>It&#x27;s an old car with some cheap eBay headlights stick on (I had those lights on a modified motorcycle I built up), cheap aftermarket wheels, dumped suspension so low the front wheels won&#x27;t turn. It has the original mechanical door handles, front end fab work is atrocious and nothing lines up right.<p>Just like SEMA cars, this was just made to provide some pretty photos and spread some PR.

I think a cursory investigation will show this is more likely just the company trying to show <i>something</i> to correspond to the large capital injection it is about to receive from &quot;investors&quot; &#x2F; cronies. (speculation, but <i>look</i> at that thing ...)

They also make a next-gen tank that doesn&#x27;t go under its own power[1], a next-gen fighter that nobody wants[2] and a nuclear-powered missile with a reactor that never starts[3]. Not to mention conventional cars that people are happy to ditch as soon as they save enough money for a used foreign one.<p>I wouldn&#x27;t worry if I were Tesla.<p>[1]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.smh.com.au&#x2F;world&#x2F;russias-t14-armata-tank-breaks-down-before-its-parade-debut-20150508-ggwt18.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.smh.com.au&#x2F;world&#x2F;russias-t14-armata-tank-breaks-...</a><p>[2]<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thedrive.com&#x2F;the-war-zone&#x2F;20347&#x2F;its-no-surprise-india-finally-ditched-its-stealth-fighter-program-with-russia" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.thedrive.com&#x2F;the-war-zone&#x2F;20347&#x2F;its-no-surprise-i...</a><p>[3]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;taskandpurpose.com&#x2F;russia-lost-nuclear-cruise-missile&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;taskandpurpose.com&#x2F;russia-lost-nuclear-cruise-missil...</a>

Following the fine tradition of such companies as British Small Arms, or as your granddad knew them, BSA: maker of fine British motorcycles.<p>Er, wait. BSA went out of business. Not a great precedent for those wishing to transition from firearms to motor vehicles. And from the looks of that thing, they&#x27;ll follow BSA&#x27;s trail right to the end.

Nothing screams quality like designing your car along the lines of some of the worst cars ever produced.

I love it, finish aside. Contemporary car design leaves me cold. I&#x27;d much prefer a return to the boxy style of the 80s, or this slightly curved box style of the 70s (yes yes I know, safety regs etc prevent it...)

It&#x27;s not particularly hard to make an electric car (there are plenty of DIY projects).<p>It is, however, extremely hard to make an electric car that&#x27;s safe, ergonomic, attractive - and also performs well.<p>As much as I admire the original AK-47 design, I don&#x27;t believe the firm is capable of making electric cars. Or robots.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;blogs-trending-45282805" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bbc.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;blogs-trending-45282805</a>

&gt;The Maker of the AK-47<p>Should be &quot;A&quot; maker of the AK-47. The AK-47 is an open design and anyone can make it. I know there was an attempt to trademark the name a few years ago, but there&#x27;s still lots of companies using the name.

No doubt you&#x27;ll be able to buy cheap knock-offs in certain 3rd world street markets and bazaars within a month.

My first thought was - why not go one step further and put a modern battery in an original electric vehicle from the 1970s like the Enfield 800 [0]? Then on reading the Enfield 800 wikipedia page I find there&#x27;s a hobbyist doing just that [1].<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Enfield_8000" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Enfield_8000</a><p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.flux-capacitor.co.uk" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.flux-capacitor.co.uk</a>

I expect it to be reliable electric car with plenty clearance between any kind of moving parts, and that the electric motor never jams. But if it does jam (which it will), it must be easy to take a part with a 10mm wrench.

My uncle in the 80s had the same car, with all the same craftsmanship, including door handles etc. The only thing new in this design are the front lights, and you can see they are of pretty low quality, crooked lines etc. This would be one of the state funded projects, where most of money will be stolen, again.

I love the front of this thing but the back is absolutely hideous [1]. I&#x27;d be vying for one if it was a flat hatchback.<p>1. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;images.carscoops.com&#x2F;2018&#x2F;08&#x2F;cbfacc26-kalashnikov-cv-1-8.jpg" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;images.carscoops.com&#x2F;2018&#x2F;08&#x2F;cbfacc26-kalashnikov-cv...</a>

Here is a non-amp link... it loads much faster for me: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2018-08-24&#x2F;kalashnikov-takes-aim-at-electric-cars-with-retro-prototype" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2018-08-24&#x2F;kalashnik...</a>

This seems like a ploy to confuse people who like to filter their investment decisions through a political lens.

Looks like the good old Lada 2105

Just because they make the AK-47, doesn&#x27;t mean they know anything about mechanical innovation or even vehicular engineering. They definitely don&#x27;t know anything about marketing from the look of the car.

The car doesn&#x27;t particularly aerodynamic. Why would someone waste that much energy nowadays?

Do I get to be a Bond villain if I buy one?

Builds smartphone from Adafruit parts.<p>This baby&#x27;s gonna give Apple a run for their money!

Non-AMP version: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2018-08-24&#x2F;kalashnikov-takes-aim-at-electric-cars-with-retro-prototype" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.bloomberg.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;articles&#x2F;2018-08-24&#x2F;kalashnik...</a>

It’s a gag car. Bloomberg should know better.

I have never seen anything with &quot;Made in Russia&quot; on it. What happens when nobody wants their oil?