Automotive

Singapore's wild Dendrobium electric supercar unveiled

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Singapore's first electric supercar, the Dendrobium by Vanda Electrics,  is unveiled in Geneva
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: aggressive stance
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Singapore's Vanda Electrics, is now claiming 1,800 peak horsepower
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: Singapore's first supercar
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: that'd make a pretty effective air brake
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: doors and roof open in concert
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: wicked rear spoiler with an integrated taillight
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: looks easier to get in and out of than many carbon-framed supercars
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: beautiful side profile
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: 21-inch rear rims and 20-inch front ones
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: electric supercar is expected to have a top speed around 320 km/h
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: semi-open rear suspension struts look terrific
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: tapered rear section
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: taillight also tells you where the charge is at
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: Scottish leather seats with stitching designed to emulate muscle fibres
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: brutal interior is all carbon with a few leather touches
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: hexagon motif dominates the dash. We're not a fan.
Vanda Electrics
The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics on display at this year's Geneva Motor Show
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
Singapore's first electric supercar, the Dendrobium by Vanda Electrics,  is unveiled in Geneva
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas
View gallery - 18 images

Singapore's Vanda Electrics has delivered on the promise it made in February last year, showing the Dendrobium electric supercar for the first time at this year's Geneva Motor Show. And while it's taken a step back from the space-age concept renders and astronomical performance figures we were given a year ago, it's still a super-exotic looking machine.

It's worth taking a look back at our original Dendrobium preview to see what we were expecting from this battery-powered beast. That ultra-flat roof was never going to make it into a real, drivable car. But the semi-open rear suspension has, as has the tapering tail complete with a new, wickedly lit rear spoiler.

The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: electric supercar is expected to have a top speed around 320 km/h
Vanda Electrics

The interior is absolutely brutal. The Dendrobium, named for a Singaporean orchid, is built around a carbon monocoque frame, and the cockpit mainly consists of bare, angular carbon with the odd bit of leather trim.

The driver's seat is a bright red leather sports number with stitching designed to emulate muscle fibers, and it looks mercifully easy to get in and out of – at least, compared to some supercars – thanks to up-and-back opening suicide doors that open in concert with the roof tilting back, and a reasonably low side wall to get your legs over.

The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: brutal interior is all carbon with a few leather touches
Vanda Electrics

The dash, well, it looks a bit form over function to us, and I think the spread of hexagons may eventually get pretty annoying on the road. But hey, it looks cool for five seconds at a car show, and it's an LED display that could look like just about anything by the time production rolls around.

The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics: hexagon motif dominates the dash. We're not a fan.
Vanda Electrics

Some of the specs Vanda originally started out with appear to have been walked back during its journey from the drawing board to a Geneva prototype. A top speed of 400 km/h (249 mph) has regressed to 320 km/h (199 mph), with a note saying "actual performance to be revised upon production." A 2.6-second 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time has been nudged back to 2.7 seconds, and the promise of 4,000 Nm (2,950 lb-ft) of planet-crunching torque as well as 1,500 horsepower (1,119 kW) seems to have disappeared altogether.

Still, it will no doubt be fast and fun to drive, given the curb weight of 1,750 kg (3,858 lb), which has been the design goal all along. The powertrain sounds interesting, consisting of two inboard electric motors per axle, with a single-speed gearbox and differential at the front, as well as a multi-speed gearbox and differential at the rear, but that's as much as we know.

The Dendrobium, by Vanda Electrics on display at this year's Geneva Motor Show
C.C. Weiss/New Atlas

As for batteries, power, range? No details have been given, but we're going to go ahead and assume you can pretty much get from any point in Singapore to any other point and home again, given that the whole country is just 42 km (26.1 mi) North to South and 23 km (14.3 mi) across at its widest point.

Singapore's first electric supercar – heck, its first supercar of any kind – should hit the road by 2020. That's "if Vanda Electrics receives enough positive interest at the Geneva Motor Show," with an initial run of 10 being the original plan.

Source: Dendrobium

View gallery - 18 images
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8 comments
LanceTurner
Can't really be a supercar if it's slower accellerating than a Model S.
Daishi
I think people will inevitably weigh in saying they are looking for something more practical to replace their Prius with and this isn't it. At the end of the day many of the component suppliers for cars like this are the same companies that build stuff the rest of us buy. If people want to throw suitcases of cash at companies to build electric supercars that push the envelope it still provides valuable R&D. I agree the LED dash is a little flashy but it should be easy enough to allow people to reconfigure the display.
I wish more companies would support showing current speed vs the posted speed limit. Many people drive 5-10 MPH over the speed limit but you have to be really careful about keeping track of speed limit changes when you do it so you don't eat a ticket for 20 over for missing a single sign or incorrectly assuming the posted speed limit before you get to a sign.
This is a special kind of hell on my motorcycle because motorcycle speedometers are 10% high so I have to deduct 10% from my indicated speed and then math out the 11-13 MPH I can exceed the speed limit by without getting pulled over and re-calculate it every time my speed changes. It seems like work I should have offloaded to hardware a long time ago.
LarryWolf
Beautiful car. Simply serene.
ikarus342000
An other nice and super fast car. You show new ones almost daily. Giving their top speeds way up to the speed limits for any country in the world except Germany where there is theoretical no speed limit. For what? I like to drive fast and drive also a lot in Germany. Over the day you will find perhaps a highway where you can drive fast. 80% of the highway has also speed limits. I lost my drivers licence almost twice for speeding. It is absolute useless to build such cars to my regret. So, please tell me why this cars are built? Any good explanation?
DrewTyson
Who was the designer? Maybe George Jetson. Don't worry, you're on the right track--it's electric. (One step closer to solar.)
Bob Flint
Overpriced hideous showpiece for the few filthy rich, while the rest of the world waits for reasonable reliable, transportation, WHY? does this really pay off the R&D involved, I think not....
npublici
Modernized Studebaker Avanti
Tom Lee Mullins
I think that is really unique looking. It will definitely draw attention to the driver. I like it.