We’re certainly not ‘boy and girl racers’ here at SunGift, but we do like to keep our eye on the continual improvements in electric cars. Why? Because we’re all in favour of anything that makes reducing fossil fuels more mainstream and attractive to those who wouldn’t normally see themselves as ‘green warriors’.
So, having shown you in previous editions a world-land-speed-record-breaking Lotus and exhibited the Tesla Roadster at the Renewable Energy Marketplace, this month we decided to bring some excitement to SunGift News by taking a look at a few of the fastest electric cars on the planet.
First up is the Ultimate Aero EV, created by Shelby Supercars. Powered by a twin motor system (which produces a staggering 1,000 horse power and accelerates from 0 to 100kmph in just 2.5 seconds), this car was launched in 2009…however, very little has been seen or heard of it since! See the 2009 article here
Second up we have the just-launched Mercedes SLS AMG Coupé Electric Drive (quite a mouthful), which also claims to be the number one. The car can get from 0-100kmph in 3.9 seconds, using four electric motors that produce 740-horsepower. It’s top speed is electrically limited to 250 km/h and Mercedes says its 60 kWh lithium-ion battery pack gives it a range of 250 km. Find out more about this exceptional car
Next we have the TORQ Roadster from the film Epic EV – and it’s a three-wheeler (unsurprisingly they say it’s ‘the fastest three wheeler in the world!). It’s described as having ‘perfectly smooth and constant acceleration…and over 400 horsepower, all of which is kept in check with four-piston racing-derived brakes and a suspension and chassis set-up that borrows from Formula One technology. Definitely an improvement on the Robin Reliant when it comes to three-wheeled vehicles. 0-100 kph is in 4 seconds.
Finally on our list is the 1972 Datsun 1200, which we first spotted in 2011. It’s road legal, it’s electric and it is very fast. Boasting 0-100kmph in an incredible 1.8 seconds, this car – known as the White Zombie – has been revamped with a ‘dual-armature 9-inch series-wound’ electric motor. It has a 192-cell lithium-polymer battery, which totals 355 Volts and uses 22.7 kWh of energy. At $100,000 or more a piece, the batteries (which are a prototype made for Navy helicopters) are extremely expensive. Unfortunately it’s one of a kind, so not a standard production model like the others – however, it does prove that you can retrofit and still get exceptional results. Read more about the 1972 Datsun 1200
All very exciting cars…but more importantly, all of these cars can be powered by energy from the sun, as owners use solar PV to generate electricity to charge their cars.
