Kyburz is a Swiss company specializing in electric vehicles for delivery and industrial businesses. Founded in 1991, it started life manufacturing mobility vehicles for the elderly before branching out into delivery vehicles in 2002. The eRod, launched at the Geneva Motor Show, is Kyburz's first foray into the world of sports cars, with three models designed to give drivers access to driving thrills unburdened by a roof, doors and luxury equipment.
Basic
The 530-kg (1,168-lb) Basic draws on a 10-kWh battery, good for up to 70 km (43 mi) of range depending on how hard you push the 45-kW (60-hp) motor. Top speed is pegged at 120-km/h (75 mph), but that's never really been the point with electric cars. They're all about surfing a wave of torque, and the eRod's 140 Nm (103 lb-ft) should be more than enough to give you a healthy shove in the back. Charging the 96-V, 100-Ah battery takes six hours.
Fun
Stepping up in the eRod range to the Fun brings more range, but no more performance. The Fun weighs 600 kg (1,323 lb), with power coming from a 17.3-kWh battery for an extra 60 km (37 mi) of range. With the same motor on the rear wheels, the Fun eRod's top speed is the same as its lighter stablemate, but it takes an extra four hours to fully charge.
Race
Think of the Race as the full-fat Model S P90D with Ludicrous Mode of the Kyburz range. At 650 kg (1433 lb) it's the heaviest model in the lineup, but that doesn't hold it back when it comes to performance.
Battery capacity has been bumped up to 39-kWh, and it's a 324 V unit instead of the 96 V batteries on lower specification models. Its motor is also over three times more powerful than the other models, with 150 kW (201 hp) on tap for a top speed of 140 km/h (87 mph).
There's also 305 Nm (225 lb-ft) of torque on tap, which should make for a serious shove in the back. Charging takes four hours, and range is pegged at around 220 km (137 mi) thanks to the extra battery capacity.
This isn't a kart for the faint of heart. Much like an Ariel Atom, it's got open sides and no roof, and the cabin is seriously stripped back. There's a flat-bottomed steering wheel, and the compact display to the driver's right-hand side looks very similar to the unit on the KTM X-Bow.
Couple that with body panels that could have been nicked from the Zenos E10, and you've got an intriguing mix of trackday inspiration. That said, it's fully road legal, so here's hoping some time has been spent making it ride well on bumpy roads.
Pricing depends on whether you choose to buy your eRod fully assembled, or whether you want to assemble it like a Caterham. A ready-to-run Fun will set you back around €30,000 (US$33,400), but you can shave €10,000 ($11,100) from the price by building it yourself. Meanwhile, the Race costs an astronomical €97,500 ($108,000), making it a toy for the very well off.
Kyburz takes its eRod to the track in the video below.
Source: Kyburz
