An all-new model from Toronto-based AK Motor, the Maple Majestic Kombi-Kross is an exciting new battery-electric car designed specifically for Canadian winters. Wait. I’m almost positive I had a Maple Majestic with my coffee last time I was at Tim Horton’s. Are we sure this is a car?
It is! Well, sort of. If you haven’t heard of AK Motor or the Maple Majestic before, it’s not because you’ve been spending too much time reading the Sports pages instead of the Business section. A nebulous startup with ambitious goals, AK Motor hasn’t built much of anything yet. It has a model car, and has given away some branded maple syrup at a display booth.
Previous press releases from AK Motors have used said model car for photos, using the tilt-shift method to make it seem more real. To be fair, there’s no claim to have built a prototype here. Indeed, details on the Maple Majestic are very thin. We can’t tell you what powertrain is planned, only that the Majestic has a planned wheelbase as long as that of a Cadillac Escalade, and a guesstimated price tag of around $150,000.
The Kombi-Kross version is a rendering rather than a physical model, which is relatively common in the automotive industry. But again, exactly what technology will make the Maple Majestic adept at handling Canadian winter weather conditions remains a mystery. It does have a lot of maple leaf badges on it, but putting on a Jake Muzzin jersey doesn’t automatically give ya a wicked slapshot there, bud.
So, as various characters on the show Letterkenny might say, time to pump the brakes a little. We are firmly in an age where EV startups are cropping up all over the place, big on promises, and vague on the ways they’re going to deliver those promises. It’s an age similar to that which produced the likes of the Bricklin SV-1 and DeLorean DMC-12 — cars which relied heavily on government subsidies and private investment, but ultimately didn’t quite deliver on their promise.
The AK Motors Maple Majestic Kombi Kross Photo by AK Motors
The AK Motors Maple Majestic Kombi Kross Photo by AK Motors
The AK Motors Maple Majestic Kombi Kross Photo by AK Motors
Could AK Motors actually build a made-in-Canada car? Sure — after all, the equally unlikely Fisker Karma was actually a production car. And it’s possible that the relatively simplicity of an EV layout will lend itself to a new era of heterogenity in the automaking landscape.
But building cars profitably is a tricky business, and the players already in the segment know what they’re doing. Put it this way: if you’re spending that kind of money for a luxury EV hatchback, are you looking to buy something like a Mercedes-Benz EQS, or a car that sounds like a delicious pastry? The latter seems a trifle flaky.
Keyword: The Maple Majestic Kombi-Kross hopes to be a made-in-Canada EV success