Automotive

Artega SE joins growing list of all-electric sportscars

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The Artega SE
The Artega SE's rear battery pack
The Artega SE team
The Artega SE's charging port
The Artega SE
The Artega SE
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It's nice to see that mass-market daily drivers aren't the only vehicles going electric. Improvements in battery and materials technologies have opened the door for high performance electric vehicles like the Tesla Roadster, Li-ion Motor's Inizio, Mercedes Benz's all electric SLS AMG E-Cell Gullwing and Audi's e-tron series, just to name a few. Joining the expanding all-electric sportscar showroom is the Artega SE (Sports Electric) from Germany-based automaker Artega, which can go from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.3 seconds on its way to a top speed of over 250 km/h (155 mph).

Modeled after Artega's combustion-engine powered GT model, the Artega SE sports two electric motors on the rear axle with a total output of 280 kW (380 hp) that operate independently to drive each of the vehicle's rear wheels. Because the electric motors transmit their power linearly with no delay, the SE can actually hit 100 km/h 0.5 seconds faster than its GT stablemate.

"Sports car drivers usually have a very dynamic driving style, with frequent acceleration and braking, which is very energy inefficient," said Artega's Dr. Wolfgang Ziebart. "But electric cars recuperate the energy lost through braking and return it to the battery. In addition, unlike combustion engine vehicles, electric vehicles convert the full extent of the engine torque immediately, which makes driving them a completely new, very dynamic experience."

The electric motors draw their power from a total of 16 lithium-ion battery modules, each containing 12 battery cells. Twelve modules are located in the rear of the vehicle with the remaining four placed in the front. The entire battery system weighs 310 kg (683 lb) and all the batteries are water-cooled. The batteries produce a total of 37 kWh and a nominal voltage of 350 V.

The Artega SE's rear battery pack

The company says that, according to the New European Driving Cycle standard, the Artega SE has a range of 300 km (186 miles), but under normal driving conditions it can comfortably achieve 200 km (124 miles). The batteries can be recharged using conventional household electricity via a plug located in the rear of the vehicle, or faster using dedicated recharging facilities. The latter can fully recharge totally depleted batteries in just 90 minutes.

With an aluminum space frame, high-strength steel and alloys reinforced with carbon fiber, the Artega SE tips the scales at 1,400 kg (3,086 lb), which is around 10 percent more than the GT version. With a similar weight distribution, the SE and GT share comparable handling, braking and performance. At 4.015 m (13.17 ft) long and 1.88 m (6.17 ft) wide, Artega says the SE has the length of a compact car and the width of a luxury limosine. The body of the SE, which is identical to the GT, was created by designer Henrik Fisker, the man behind Fisker Coachbuild who is also responsible for designing the BMW Z8, the Aston Martin DB9 and Aston Martin V8 Vantage.

Artega unveiled the SE earlier this year at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show and says its plant in Delbrück, Germany, is capable of producing 500 vehicles per year. When they start rolling out the factory doors this year you can pick one up for around 150,000 euro (approx. US$ 212,500).

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8 comments
William H Lanteigne
I don\'t need to go much faster than about 70 mph (112 kph), and I can take 10 seconds or a little longer to get there, but I like the 124 mile range.
I\'d be very interested at about 10% of that price.
Luddite
Why is it that the high end electric sports cars coming out all have a range of around 160-180 miles, but the electric cars on the lower end of the spectrum get only 40 to a high of around 80? They are often using the same battery technology. Living in a rural area, the nearest stores are 25-40 miles away.
William Volk
The sports cars have a greater battery capacity (37kwh in this, vs. 24kwh in the Nissan Leaf). They are also more efficient due to a lower CdA (aero drag).
They cost more accordingly.
Griffin
@Volk Pardon me, but that\'s BS. If that were the case this car would have 5 TIMES the battery capacity and not just 50% more.
They cost that much because that\'s what people will pay.
Everybody else- look up EBay and elsewhere for well converted affordable electric cars. Do some Due Diligence.
Tom Cruise bought a beautiful white all-electric reproduction Porsche 356 Speedster from Vintage Speedsters in CA called \"White Lightning\".
It cost about as much as a Leaf.
Cooler,more fun and less complicated than anything I\'ve seen the corporate world come up with yet.
You can get a nice well-built electric VW Old-school Bug like the one that Gizmag reported on that just crossed Canada as a University project.
You can find nice just finished restoration/conversions like that for $20k or so if you look around. I have never seen any of them on EBay over $40. Really road-read professional vehicles run $15-25K. Just look up electric cars on eBay.
Old VW/Porsches are a good design because of their weight,shape and aerodynamics.
Also,there is a street-legal electric Doran 3-wheeler on EBay from the Petersen museum for just a few thousand right now.
Plasma Junkie
37kWh in 90min or about 25kW of power assuming zero conversion losses. Yeah, I\'d call that a \"dedicated recharging facility.\" Batteries are nearly as bad as hydrogen for energy storage.
Blixdevil
Also @Volk, sports cars generally have much higher drag, not lower. For example: Chrysler\'s lowest Cd? The Grand Caravan. Worst? The Viper ACR. But you did get the factor right - CdA, which is drag times frontal area. It is the frontal area that makes it a bit better for sports cars.
Jim Stack
My new LEAF was only $25 K and seats 5, has folding rear 50-50 seats and is much smarter than a sportscar. Our solar system runs the house, car and help the utiltiy. It opaid for itself in 2 years with electric costing $1 vs 2 gallons of 50% imported gas with a cost of $7 today and real cost of &14-20.
I\'ve gone 130 miles on a charge with more left. There are 1700 ECOtality chargers going in locally. If only I could stop subsidising YUOR imported OIL and dirty COAL I\'d be a millionare. Oh well I feel like one now and still ride my bicycle most of the time .

March/23
Distance Traveled 27 miles

Average Energy Economy miles/kWh 6.7

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José Maertens
Where you all live must be paradise I think? Here in Belgium it\'s hard to find someone who can build or rebuild a car to a EV. At last, there is one in Bruges. But the problem is he will only customized old timers. Another problem, the prices. Way toooo high ( 20.000 Eu). Also a big problems here is getting a licence to drive with an EV on the road here! It takes years to get that done. Sadly, many Belgian people think EV-cars (even EV-bikes) are a joke!