Businessman from Espírito Santo wants to produce a Brazilian electric car in 2024

Flávio Figueiredo Assis sold his food card company to pursue a dream: creating the first Brazilian electric car. What was an idea gained features, shape and name: Lecar 459 – a sequence of numbers that connect and pay homage to scientist Nikola Tesla, a fan of 9, he says.

The project, with an estimated investment of around R$1 billion, is entirely financed by him, after the sale of Le Card, of food cards. The investment is to produce 300 units, with each vehicle sold for R$279,459. Assis expects production to begin this year, in December.

The model began to be designed in 2022 and the construction of the prototype began in 2023. In this process, which brought together professionals with experience in large automakers, the businessman says that he even dismantled a Tesla car to understand the details and mechanism of the electric car .

The Lecar 459 is in the final phase of development at a factory in Caxias do Sul (RS). The next steps are the launch, scheduled for April here in Brazil, and approval in England, in the United Kingdom, which will last seven to eight months. After that, says Assis, production is released.

Homologation consists of tests and approval that the vehicle is ready for sale. The businessman says that, as the electric car is still very new, there are no companies that carry out the process in Brazil. This is different from combustion models, where testing and approval can be done right here.

“In April, three cars will be sent to London, where international approvals and impact, airbag, brake, battery, safety, emissions tests, among others, will be carried out”, explains the CEO of Lecar.

According to him, the Lecar 459 has a range of 400 kilometers and a LiFeYPO battery, with a charging capacity of up to 80% with a 25-minute charge.

Businessman has a project for an electric car costing R$100,000

The repercussion of the electric car built by a Brazilian led the businessman, who likes to be called the “Brazilian Elon Musk”, in reference to the owner of Tesla, to come up with the second project – much more ambitious in terms of public and risk: the production of electric cars worth up to R$100 thousand.

“One hundred thousand spiked. No more, no less”, says the executive, who continues his trip next week to meet international investors interested in the project.

For this second stage, the businessman states that the Caxias do Sul factory is small, and he is looking for a larger space.

He even disputed the land where Ford operated, in Camaçari (BA). Lecar, however, joined just two days before the end of the public call for the bidding process that the Bahian government opened to find a new owner for the site. The Chinese BYD, which won the parade, had already been in the process for months – it had even announced job openings and the start of construction of its factory for this week.

This week, the Bahian government hit the hammer with BYD. Assis regretted and considered the disqualification premature, without the opportunity for the company to present its development project for Bahia. But he assured that he will not appeal in court. Go in search of new lands.

“We are not going to court, as it would take a long time for something that will not favor Brazil and tie both companies together”, he says.

Among the options on the radar is building the factory to produce R$100,000 cars in the north of Espírito Santo, his home state. But, according to him, the alternative is linked to the fact that, like Bahia, state tax incentives and the network of local suppliers are attractive. Pedro Canário, Soretama and Montanha are the cities being studied.

“We have infinite possibilities now. We don’t have a preference. We are looking for an opportunity for a plant to quickly start production of our new R$100,000 Lecar model”, concludes the businessman.