The Tesla Roadster covers the quarter-mile in 12.757 seconds while hitting 104.74 mph. Big deal. There’s a hybrid in the works at Ariel Motor Co. in the UK that will leave a Tesla eating its dust, even with the Tesla running in “ludicrous” mode.
The range extended, electric sports car project is called the Hipercar and is set for full production in 2020. Ariel, a low-volume performance motor vehicle manufacturing company, says the Hipercar will get to 150 mph in under eight seconds and will top out at 160 mph. To be available in four-wheel-drive and two-wheel-drive variants, Hipercar is a Series Hybrid EV featuring a 750-V, 42 kWh or 56 kWh, lithium-ion, cooled and heated battery pack which is charged, when required, by a 35-kW micro-turbine range extender. The two-wheel-drive version will be rear-wheel-drive, Ariel says.
Ariel isn’t saying much about the construction details of the new car. It won’t name the companies supplying the electric motors or the batteries. The final exterior design of the car also is yet to be finalized. Ariel will, however, say it is based around an aluminium folded and bonded lightweight chassis with full rollover protection. The chassis structure will feature aluminium front and rear subframes carrying aluminium wishbones and outboard adjustable suspension. Forged or carbon composite wheels carry 265/35/20 front and 325/30/21 rear tires.
Powered wheels will be driven by inboard motors via integral, single-speed step-down gearboxes direct to driven wheels, with each individual motor developing 220 kW (295 bhp) and 450 Nm (332 ft-lb) of torque. In the four-wheel drive version, total power is therefore 880 kW (1,180 bhp) while the two-wheel drive version will develop 40 kW (590bhp).
Total torque is 1,800 Nm (1,327 ft lb) at the motor and 9,900 Nm (7,301 ft lb) at the wheels in the four-wheel-drive Hipercar and 900 Nm (664 ft-lb) at the motor and 4,950 Nm (3,651 ft-lb) at the wheels in the two-wheel-drive car.
The vehicle’s electrical architecture will consist of high and low-voltage systems linked by multiple CAN networks that permit communication among a powertrain controller, vehicle dynamic control interface, and battery controller and interactions with 12-V and safety systems.
Pricing will come later in the project. But prospective buyers should expect to pay up. Says Areil CEO Simon Saunders, “It will be an expensive car because of the technology involved but when compared to £1m+ supercars, which it will outperform, it’s going to represent excellent value for money. This is the first true electric supercar that will cross continents, drive to town and lap a race track.”
1180HP is just exactly what I need, but the 0-150 time is a bit slow for merging into expressway traffic. But it does sound like a fun vehicle, although not terribly practical. I wager that it will not be available with the computerized autonomous driven option.