The Ariel EV hypercar will appear in 2020, possibly with a gas turbine range extender.
If electric cars are the future, we are not so sad when Ariel gives us a glimpse of what is feasible.
In 2017, a small British company announced plans for a high-performance extended range EV called Hypercar. This seemed to be the trend at the time, as there were at least two other companies with similar concepts in the same year.
Ariel initially announced that the hypercar would be unveiled in 2019 and production would begin in 2020. While the reveal never happened, Autoblog was told by a company spokesperson that the project had not been canceled and that it was scheduled to be unveiled in 2020. The spokesman said that the vehicle will be unveiled before the Low Carbon Vehicle Show, which will be held in Millbrook, England, beginning September 9.
Hipercar stands for "High Performance Carbon Reduction," which is just a code name for the car, but fitting since it should perform like a hypercar; each of the four wheels will have an electric motor. Each produces 299 hp, for a total of 1,196 hp. But Ariel will also offer a two-wheel model that promises a total of 598 hp. Both numbers are high considering that the hypercar is likely to be a light and agile machine, with either a 42-kilowatt or 56-kilowatt lithium-ion battery pack paired with a range extender.
Power will be shifted to the wheels via a single-speed gearbox, and the entire motor, gearbox, and inverter assembly will weigh about 126 pounds.
What does all this translate into: a 0-60 mph time of 2.4 seconds and a 0-150 mph run of only 7.8 seconds. According to Ariel, a top speed of 160 mph is the goal.
As for the chassis, a CNC-folded bonded aluminum monocoque will be part of the package, with removable aluminum front and rear subframes. The hypercar's suspension will feature double wishbones at all four corners, with Bilstein supplying the dampers.
Ariel has also developed a custom-built power steering system to provide the ultimate feedback to the driver. Forged or carbon composite wheels will be fitted with heavy-duty 265/35/20 front and 325/30/21 rear tires. If this isn't the ultimate enthusiast machine for electric car fans, I don't know what is.
Note that some of these original specifications are expected to change, and the teaser shown here is not representative of the final design.
As for pricing, Ariel has made it clear that it plans to make the hypercar worth more than $1 million and to surpass its performance in every way.