With the resurgence of electric vehicle mania, but with costs for these vehicles still high relative to their gasoline counterparts, much of the focus on these cars in America has been in high-end (and costly) sports cars. Considering the requirements of a great speed demon, it’s little wonder electric is catching on so fast. I know I’m not the only one looking at converting my gasoline powered car to electric, and many car companies like Shelby are doing the same.
Shelby Supercars plans to trump the current electric salivation leader, Tesla Motors, with their own Ultimate Aero EV. It is said to be faster than any other electric car on the market with a whopping 500 horsepower motor. It’s definitely getting a lot of hype and publicity, with its sleek looks and it’s base on the world record holding Ultimate Aero (which broke the world record for fastest production car at 256.18mph).
The Aero EV will have the same chasis of the exotic “SuperCar” and will use a 373kW electric motor. The new drive train will feature “a revolutionary power source allowing for extended time between charging intervals, with the possibility of several years between charging,” according to Shelby. With electric design guru Tony Stark on the project, I guess anything is possible.
Prototypes will be unveiled in February with production rolling off the line by December of 2009.
Whatever the hype and seemingly far-fetched claims, the cars are very cool, sleek, and could possibly break the electric propulsion record. It’s likely they’ll be as unattainable as the Tesla or any of the high-end, high price tag vehicles we love to salivate over, but it’s worth dreaming about.
Kind of makes my electric conversion plans for my Toyota pickup look lame, though. Maybe I’ll paint it white and put speed stripes on it to feel better…
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