Electric vehicles and high performance aren't two concepts that naturally spring to mind together. One firm that wants to show that the concepts can be perfectly good bedfellows, however, is US startup Renovo. The company says its newly-announced Coupe is the "first all-electric American supercar."
It's certainly not the first electric supercar. Amongst those already created are the SSC Ultimate Aero that was released in 2009 and the more recent Rimac Concept One. The Aero is American too, but it doesn't appear to have ever made it into production.
Nonetheless, the Renovo Coupe is a worth a look, not least because it shows what electric vehicles can be capable of. Renovo says it produces 1,000 ft lb (1,356 Nm) of direct-drive torque and over 500 hp from its twin sequential axial flux motors. With a weight of 3,250 lb (1,474 kg), this means that the Coupe will accelerate from 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) in under 3.4 seconds. That's faster than the Detroit Electric SP:01 – another electric performance car that it's worth acknowledging.
The company says that the Coupe's throttle will produce full power within just 37 milliseconds and that the vehicle's battery can be charged in half an hour. The battery is modular in design, split across multiple separate battery enclosures to provide a better weight distribution.
Aside from the its technology, the Coupe also has a striking and familiar look. It uses a modified version of the Shelby Daytona chassis, which has been supplied by Shelby itself. The chassis was designed by Peter Brock, who designed the original Shelby Daytona.
"This shape was nearly perfect 50 years ago, and physics doesn't change much over time," says Brock. "However, the redesigned car has a totally updated body, frame, suspension, and cabin; it's a new chapter for this chassis."
Renovo has been developing the Coupe in secret for over four years. The vehicle was designed at the company's base in Silicon Valley. It will be available to buy from next year.
The video below provides an introduction to the Renovo Coupe.
Source: Renovo
I'd like to know: 1. Price. 2. Range.
given the light-weight and 30 min recharge time I'd guess this thing to have a ~120 mile range. Which should be plenty for a daily-driver or a few hot-laps around a track before a 30 min refuel break. Anything more in range would seem to just mean carrying around dead battery weight.
as for price, if this thing could stay under the $100,000 mark, I could see it taking a few sales from the big-shots.
Renovo is not going to achieve that with a 3200+lb chassis. And what about the drag? No mention. Why? Is it because they didn't even measure it?
This is not a car for the masses. It will fail as the economy continues to go into the toilet.
Otherwise its classic lines are quite attractive, with a Shelby Daytona/Ferrari GTO style, especially in the profile. I am wondering how these muscular electric machines feel when driven. The whining of their motors and gears compared to an ICE with an exhaust note.