Kalashnikov on wheels: Meet Tesla’s Russian rival

Kalashnikov on wheels: Meet Tesla’s Russian rival

This Kalashnikov has Elon Musk worried. The billionaire who owns Tesla has found a serious competitor in the Russian company better known for the manufacture of the legendary automatic assault rifles.

Kalashnikov lined up its latest offering - the prototype of an electronic car model that matches the pioneering models from Tesla. The Kalashnikov CV 1, unveiled in Moscow last week, is inspired by the 1970 Soviet hatchback called Izh Kombi.

The Kalashnikov CV 1 has a vintage look but it is termed an “electric super car”. The car carries an array of technical features that matches Tesla’s models.

Kalashnikov has claimed that CV 1 is far superior in performance when compared to the available electric car models in the market. It can accelerate at least 10 times than the existing cars, the manufacturer has claimed.

CV 1 can run for about 350 kilometres on a single recharge. The company is yet to put a price tag on the new offering.

The car’s retro-looking design has been met with mixed reactions. Some auto websites laud it as a “cool design” while the others dismiss it as weird. Looks apart, Kalashnikov could end Tesla’s monopoly in the electric car market.

Kalashnikov is synonymous with the company’s first product - AK 47 assault rifles. The company has been diversifying into areas such as clothes, umbrellas and smart phone covers. Two weeks ago, the company presented a robot named Igorek. Standing tall at 4 metres, the 4.5 ton robot is capable of performing industrial engineering jobs.

The giant robot was not well received though. The company admitted that it misjudged the market while going against the trend of designing smaller robots. The manufacturer has promised to rectify the mistakes and present another prototype by 2020.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.