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Ariel, the British automaker famed for minimalist track-ready sports cars, is hopping aboard the EV train with a little help from its friends at Cosworth.
Overnight the company unveiled the Hipercar prototype, which will go into production in around two years from now, during which time it might gain a new name, amongst other changes.
When it enters production Hipercar in two years time, the EV will be available with two drivetrain options: a four-motor all-wheel drive system or two-motor rear-wheel drive setup.
While this prototype uses 3D-printed carbon-fibre panels, the final version will have full carbon-fibre body paired to a bonded aluminium chassis with aluminium front and rear subframes.
Unlike the Ariel Atom, which has an eye-catching exposed frame, the Hipercar will be a fully-type approved vehicle subjected to all the crash and emissions testing of regular cars. This means the underlying details like that need to be hidden away.
The Hipercar is fully-enclosed coupe with swing-up doors, and its striking body is adorned with fins all over.
At present the all-wheel drive variant generates a total of 880kW and 1800Nm. Ariel says the Hipercar can complete the 0-60mph (0-97km/h) dash in 2.09 seconds, and hit 100mph (161km/h) in 4.4 seconds.
Once the torque vectoring system has been fully tuned, the automaker expects the 0-60mph time fall below the 2.0 second mark, while the 0-100mph sprint should be done in under four.
The rear-wheel drive model uses the same electric motors as the all-wheel drive version, so total output is said to be 440kW and 900Nm, although no performance figures have been announced for this variant.
A Cosworth-supplied 800V 62kWh lithium-ion battery pack is said provide the car with 241km of range using the WLTP testing standard.
If that’s not enough, the Hipercar can be specified with a 35kW Cosworth turbine range extender that recharges the battery while on-the-go.
Pricing has yet to be finalised, but the production Hipercar is expected to start below £1 million ($1.7 million).
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