With 1,073 screaming electric horsepower (800 kW) out of a torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive powertrain, sharkish looks from the most renowned Italian design house of all, and a pair of colossal gull-wing doors that are long enough to let you into the front or back seats, Pininfarina's HK GT concept gets a big yes from us.
Italian design house Pininfarina has been responsible for the sexy shapes of more Ferraris, Maseratis, Alfa Romeos and Peugeots than you can poke a stick at – not to mention the transcendent Daewoo Nubira, the Eurowagon version of which graced the author's garage for a brief period until too many parts fell off for us to pretend it was still ok to drive.
Moving into the future, though, the company wants to get involved with eco-sustainable motoring to the greatest degree possible. And in that spirit, it used the Geneva Motor Show to debut an eye-popping plug-in hybrid tarmac ripper called the HK GT, which it's developed for China's Hybrid Kinetic group.
First to strike you will be the gigantic double gull-wing doors, which are long enough to enable access to both the front and rear seats, and make the car look like a menacing X-wing fighter when they're open. Funky doors are the key signature of so many supercars, but shy of 2016's Lincoln Navigator concept, we're hard pressed to remember another set of double-wide gull-wings on a four-seater.
Otherwise the car looks fantastic, with an oversized HK-style grille and a vaguely sharky silver form that shows Pininfarina's really learned and grown from its experience with the Nubira.
Performance specs are routinely ridiculous on electric sports cars, and the HK GT is no exception. Four separate IPM motors produce a total power output over 800 kW, or about 1073 vicious horsepower. Considering how much torquier electric powertrains are than their gasoline equivalents, that is going to feel absolutely absurd when you drop the hammer. The 0-100km/h (0-62 mph) sprint is dispatched in a brisk 2.7 seconds, and top speed is an exorbitant 350 km/h (217 mph).
The range is less impressive with the 38-kWh battery giving you not much more than 160 km (100 miles) to a full charge. But the GT is most definitely conceived as a Grand Tourer. Battery-only mode will give you fuel-free motoring on the vast majority of commuting and city driving days, but Hybrid Kinetic is all about the hybrids. So the car also comes with your choice of three range-extending motors (multi-fuel microturbine, hydrogen fuel cell, or efficient gasoline generator) that boost the range up over 1,000 km (620 mi), with the latter giving you the option to top up at any gas station for unlimited range touring. Until charging gets a lot quicker, range-extender hybrids like this truly seem like the best of both worlds for the times we're living in.
Interior-wise, there are touch screens for driver and passenger, some lovely trim details (see the photo gallery for close-ups) and a uniquely Mr. Potato Head-shaped steering wheel. Interior lighting is blue in the peaceful Cruise drive mode, but switches to red, warning your passengers to grab the Jesus straps and hang on when you switch it into Sport mode, "for moments of solitary and hedonistic sports driving," as Pininfarina puts it. We can imagine.
It's just a concept, but it's a concept clearly aimed at the Asian market, and we think it looks absolutely terrific. Jump into the gallery for more images.
Source: Pininfarima
