On Monday, Proton and the Netherlands-based Detroit Electric are expected to sign a deal on the project, estimated at more than RM1 billion.
Reuters quoted a development cost of US$331 million (RM1.2 billion) based on a press invite sent by Detroit Electric.
Proton only plans to send its own media invitation today, with the IOI Marriott Putrajaya Hotel being the venue of the signing ceremony, people close to the national carmaker said.
Proton would be involved in manufacturing the platforms and assembling the EV vehicles, it said.
Design and sales would be undertaken by Detroit, which is owned by Lotus Group International’s former CEO and director Albert Lam.
Detroit Electric will mass-produce pure electric cars using Proton platforms, initially with the Persona sedan, they said.
A production line will be set up at Proton’s Shah Alam manufacturing facility, they added.
During his visit to Proton last September, Detroit Electric chairman and chief executive Albert Lam said the company was keen to establish a plant in Malaysia to manufacture batteries for the electric cars, along with a research and development unit, at a total cost of about US$30 million (RM109 million).
Both companies had started talking on the venture in August, he said.
Proton had said it was keen to develop electric cars to reduce carbon emissions and avoid rising fuel costs.
At the time, Detroit Electric had also given motoring journalists the chance to test-drive several models fitted with electric engines, including a Lotus Elise, Proton Persona and Proton Savvy.
Detroit Electric was an icon of the US car industry in the early 1900s, producing the first electric cars. It went bankrupt in 1939, but was revived by Lam and other shareholders in the Netherlands and the US last year.
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