Electric Car Maker Seeking Site For Plant

A small Hawaiian electric car maker is considering a move into the shadow of the Big Three in its search for a new assembly site.

Suntera Electric Chariot Co.’s first big orders for 4,000 of the SunRay vehicles have come from Japan. Now it is on the lookout for a place to build a plant capable of assembling 10,000 of the light, three-wheel minicars a year, Suntera chief executive Tony Locricchio said Friday.

The start-up company prefers locating somewhere in metropolitan Detroit but also is considering Boston; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Phoenix; Saginaw, Mich.; and Seattle.