Izera is Poland’s new car brand

Named after the Izera mountain range in South-Western Poland, EMP revealed a pair of attractive and affordable all-electric Izera prototypes under the “A million reasons to keep on driving” slogan. EV start-up Izera’s first two models will be a five-door hatchback with Mazda 3 overtones, plus a crossover SUV, with deliveries forecast to commence in 2023.

Although 100 per cent Polish, EMP enlisted the help of German engineers from EDAG for their extensive electric car chassis systems experience, plus contracted the vehicle styling expertise of Torino Design, an independent Italian design studio, with long-term Jaguar designer Tadeusz Jelec working as an Izera project consultant.

The proposed interiors of the sharp-looking Izera prototype duo show a clean and ergonomic configuration with two large clear digital dials mounted atop the dashboard; the first used for instrumentation, while the second controls the cars’ multimedia system.

On the technical side, Izera recruited Łukasz Maliczenko, another notable ex-Jaguar name, previously in charge of the British luxury marque’s electrification programme. The two inaugural Izera models will be based on a single EV platform with the cars available with two battery choices to provide a range of up to 400km (c.250 miles), with a 0-62mph time of around 7-8 seconds, and about 30 minutes required to recharge the Izera’s battery pack up to 80 per cent.

Poland is now the largest European state to no longer have an indigenous car maker of its own, despite the automotive sector being the second largest employer in the country, accounting for seven per cent of its GDP. In 2016, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki ambitiously pledged to have over one million electric vehicles on Poland’s roads by 2025. While that currently looks unattainable, if EMP’s plans for its new affordable Izera EV models go succeed, this will boost the number of local e-car users in the late 2020s, along with creating 3,500 jobs, with Izera exports also forecast.