Chinese EV manufacturer HiPhi cranks its sports car program into hyperdrive with the all-new HiPhi A. The extreme-performance GT looks as though its megawatt electric drive shattered its HiPhi Z shell to leave something far more aggressive in its wake – an angrier, more focused hyper-GT dripping in superlatives.
HiPhi infuses it with cutting-edge materials like titanium alloy and nano-ceramics, along with advanced features like intelligent torque vectoring and a robo-automated cockpit, to create the next closest thing to a sports car that literally traveled back in time from a distant future.
The company unveiled the HiPhi A during a global live stream this week ahead of a physical debut at the 2023 Guangzhou Auto Show that kicks off on Friday.
The new car shares its basic four-door, four-seat fastback GT form with the more pedestrian HiPhi Z (a quick full circle on the alphabet, there), but gets some seriously aggressive upgrading all over, starting with broader air intakes at the sides of the front bumper.
Moving on back, the carbon-finished hood scoop dives deeper; the sides are edged with dramatic finned skirts, and the rear view gets dominated by a big split wing above a bumper area sliced and diced into various aero zones. The whole thing looks like the HiPhi Z rolled through the SEMA show and took home complimentary body parts at every booth, leaving as a gauntlet-dropping high-voltage track racer.
The A is much more than just a hardcore body kit, though, gaining HiPhi's first in-house-developed performance powertrain, an 800-V triple-motor AWD layout that drops two power plants at the rear and one up front for a total of 1,287 bhp – damn near a megawatt (1,341 hp). Each motor uses a high-speed carbon fiber rotor, full oil cooling and magnetic cylinder coil direct cooling for speeds up to 22,000 rpm.
The HiPhi A battery comes sandwiched between a bulletproof carbon floor panel and fireproofed carbon top cover (as HiPhi describes it) and is able to discharge 1.5 MW of power at its peak, feeding the hungry motors for an estimated sub-2-second 0-62 mph (100 km/h) sprint and targeted top speed just under 186 mph (300 km/h). The A nearly doubles the Z's power while roughly halving its sprint time.
HiPhi promises precise, track-besting handling to go along with all that raw power, saying the A has a near-perfect 50:50 front-rear weight split and features like active rear-wheel steering, continuously variable damping and torque vectoring. Advanced materials such as the carbon fiber visible all over and the aluminum alloys and nano-ceramics below the skin help in hitting a low, balanced weight. HiPhi also claims the first use of aircraft-grade TC4 titanium alloy for automotive interior and exterior trim.
Inside, each of the four occupants is cosseted in his or her own independent seat swimming amidst a sea of forged carbon fiber and bright mood lighting. The central touchscreen tablet is backed by the HiPhi Bot, a robotic arm that provides eight-way multi-axis adjustment, including landscape-portrait switching and tilting.
HiPhi plans to launch a limited run of HiPhi A vehicles beginning in early 2025. It will release more details on the road to launch.
Source: HiPhi