Production on the TX7 truck could start as early as next year
The Carbon TX7 (Credit: Carbon Motors). A company planning to build high-tech police cars in a vacant eastern Indiana auto parts factory says it has a second vehicle that it plans to produce in the Hoosier state. Carbon Motors Corp. on Monday announced it will begin producing a "multi-mission" vehicle called the TX7 at a vacant former Visteon plant in Connersville before it begins building its E7 police car. Carbon says that the TX7 can replace several types of vehicles currently in use by law enforcement agencies. The TX7 is built on the chassis of an already-existing truck (the company has not said which one) and employs a V8 diesel engine that powers all four wheels. The truck can be configured to fit up to ten people and will include numerous technological features, including weapons of mass destruction detectors, infrared cameras and 360-degree surveillance cameras. The TX7 will have a starting price of $149,950. Carbon says it can start production as early as the second half of 2013. Company spokesman Stacy Dean Stephens tells The Connersville News-Examiner Carbon will assemble the smaller E7 somewhere in Indiana but it's not certain yet whether Connersville gets the work. Carbon Motors is building so-called "purpose-built" poice cars in the wake of Ford retiring its venerable Crown Victoria Police Interceptor. According to the company's website, it has taken over 23,000 reservations from over 600 law enforcement agencies in all fifty states for the E7 patrol vehicle. Delivery of the vehicle is delayed after The Energy Department rejected Carbon's bid for a $310 million federal loan in March. Connersville public works board agreed Friday to give an undisclosed buyer of the plant until March 31 to close the $4 million deal. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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