After more than 70 years, Detroit Electric has returned to Detroit with a promise of creating 180 local jobs by the end of 2013, and producing an all electric sports car.

In a press release earlier today, Detroit Electric has taken up shop in Fisher Building in downtown Detroit, and has identified a location to start production in August. The production facility will have an annual capacity of 2500 vehicles.

Following 5 tedious years of research and engineering development, Detroit Electric will be unveiling its first model – a 2 seat sports car. It will be launched early next month in Detroit, followed by a public reveal at Shanghai Motor Show on April 20. At that show, Detroit Electric also has some secrets it will reveal about a partnership it has formed with a global carmaker.

The new Detroit Electric sports car will be on sale in target markets by the end of August 2013, and will spearhead a diverse family of all electric production cars, including 2 high-performance models that will enter production by the end of 2014.

“We are proud to become the fourth car manufacturer born out of Detroit, and the first to manufacture a pure electric sports car from Michigan,” said Don Graunstadt CEO of North America Operations at Detroit Electric.

Early in the 1900s, the Detroit electric vehicle industry was flourishing and a company called Detroit Electric was innovating and selling more electric vehicles than any other company. Detroit Electric went on to make around 13,000 cars, with notable customers including Thomas Edison, Mamie Eisenhower, John D. Rockerfeller Jr. and Clara Ford, the wife of Henry Ford.

Detroit Electric is headed by Albert Lam, the former Group CEO of the Lotus Engineering Group and Executive Director of Lotus Cars of England, who said in a statement that the electric sports car’s DNA “will be translated across to our future sedans; all our cars will be fun to drive and deliver exceptional performance within their class.”