The Mullen GT Roadster Is Finally On The Way All These Years Later

Mar. 21, 2023 9:24 AM ET byAnthony Capretto Electric Vehicles /2 Comments

的rebadged Qiantu K50终于去看我们shores. Probably.

It appears the rebadged electric sports car Mullen Automotive promised us years ago is still on the way. The company was just granted a license for IP and exclusive distribution rights in North and South America. The Qiantu K50/DragonFLY, which will be renamed the GT and GTRS, will be shipped to the company's Mishawaka, Indiana plant where the company will re-engineer it to US standards while also infusing it with different styling.

We first saw the carall the way back in 2017when it debuted in Shanghai. A couple of years later, the car showed up at the 2019 New York Auto show under the Qiantu/Mullen banner where we had a chance to speak with Mullen's head engineer about the car'sabsurd performance goals.

The car was originally set to release in 2020, which just makes you laugh a little bit, and after it didn't and the world fell apart (read: the pandemic) the car became nothing more than a memory. Today though, it finally seems like the dead-in-the-water project is moving forward.

This makes sense as Mullen has been focused on other things, like its FIVE SUV, for the past couple of years.The FIVE is quite the lookerwith Aston Martin DBX proportions and Buick Wildcat Concept looks. It will spawn an absolutely insane RS version that is apparentlytoo intense to test drivewith over 1,000 hp too. The FIVE is set to roll off the assembly line in Tunica, Mississippi in 2024, and now the GT appears to be hot on its heels.

As it's a young electric car brand, the promises are high for the model. We're talking 0-60 mph in just 1.95 seconds with a top speed of over 200 mph. How big is the battery? How many motors does it have? What kind of range will it have? None of this has been revealed yet.

We know when we first saw the Qiantu K50, it had a dual motor setup that produced 402 hp but could be overclocked to 429 hp. It used a 78-kWh battery pack that gave the car 230 miles of range according to Chinese NEDC standards. Not exactly the numbers Mullen is going for.

Mullen is re-engineering the car though. We don't know how extensively, but we imagine given how much time has passed and how many more competitors will be hitting the market soon it will be rather extensive; the last thing Mullen needs is a dud when theTesla Roadsterfinally hits the market.

We imagine they'll look to the FIVE, with its 95-kWH battery pack and eAWD system to help. The FIVE has a claimed 325-mile range and the 1.9 second 0-60 mph sprint the company's looking for, now it's just finding the best way to package all of it into the roadster.

As with most electric start-ups, we'll believe it when we see it. The mock-up image the company has released of the GTRS does look pretty great, and if it can truly get that to production for a decent price with stats at least close to what's being flaunted, Mullen may have a winner on its hands.

The Mullen GT Roadster Is Finally On The Way All These Years Later

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The Mullen GT Roadster Is Finally On The Way All These Years Later

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