Filed under: Concept Cars, Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Supercars
SSC (allegedly) to produce the world's fastest electric supercar
Click above for a gallery of high-res images of the SSC Ultimate Aero TT.
Green performance cars are the new darlings of today's small crop of boutique auto builders. From the Tesla Roadster to the Fisker Karma, and now, the new Ultimate Aero EV. The easiest way for the little guys to attract big attention is to make attractive, high performance cars with green credentials. So, it's with a grain of salt that we bring you news of the aforementioned electric hyper coupe from Shelby SuperCars. Considering that the supercar manufacturer claims that its battery will not require a charge "for six years" (should we proclaim them early favorites for McCain's battery prize?), powering dual, five-hundred horsepower electric motors, the whole thing sounds more than a bit fishy. It deserves noting that the battery technology doesn't exist to support those claims and, while five-hundred horsies can indeed be extracted from an electric motor, that would have to be one big honkin' motor... and they plan on using two in their EV. Guiness World Record for the fastest car? Check. Really big EV aspirations? Double Check. And now, it's time for a reality check.
Gallery: SSC Ultimate Aero TT
[Source: Shelby SuperCars]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Typesbad 8:15PM (7/15/2008)
I didn't know that Jerry Dean Michael aka: Elizabeth Carmichael was out of jail! (Young'ins: Wiki "Dale automobile")
Will there be a three wheeled version too? Sign me up for a dealership!
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Yar 8:20PM (7/15/2008)
I'm not so sure about this one. I'm not going to immediately put this past SSC, after all they did surprise me with the Aero.
The only way I see this as possible within a year (with my admittedly limited EV knowledge) is if the Aero EV is powered by plutonium.
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tankd0g 12:48AM (7/16/2008)
I think they just get it. If you're going to feed the public a line of bull, might as well shoot for the stars. Sure makes the Volt seem like the Chevette of EVs by comparison.
CaroVette 2:23AM (7/16/2008)
First off I don't see "six years" but rather "possibility of several years between charging"... so maybe they changed it but lets slow down the internet gossip train.
Secondly, Yar, your comment about plutonium. SSC is from Tri-Cities area. The reason so many people live there, the Manhattan Project, Hanford...Nuclear power...
Hah, I'm not saying he's got copies of nuclear sub schematics but hell he's in the right place with the right people!!!
Shiftright 8:20PM (7/15/2008)
First things first: SSC needs to hire some automotive designers. I'm not contesting its performance or engineering quality, but it looks like high schooler's sketch of a Lamborghini Diablo or a bad kit car inspired by the same. Also, am I the only one who is sick of pointless and hyper dollar supercars? I bet most of these things would be little fun to drive on the street, and serve little purpose other than to tell thw world about one's stupid amounts of disposable income. I'm more impressed by a Fiat Abarth 500 or a Mini Cooper S.
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Artie Lange 9:21PM (7/15/2008)
You may want to contest that engineering acumen; that car's about as advanced as an 80's kit car. Chromolly tube frame, no abs, not traction control; just a big, turbo-charged motor in a light car. So what if its the "World's fastest production car" (I bet they have their Guiness certificate framed). Does top speed matter in an era where even Vette's are posting 200+mph top speeds? Show me some 'Ring times and an elegant design. Anyone can build a fast car; very few can build a very fast, very pretty, and very comfortable car.
I've got a scoop for Autoblog. I'm building an EV. Its going to have a top speed of 320 mph, 2000 hp motors in all four wheels, and is powered by a Mr. Fushion. Press release imminent.
smartmlp 11:46PM (7/15/2008)
All modern super cars or cars that seem to cost an extodinate amount of money are space frames. I havent seen the frame of this car but if its a space frame than its the same thing that Lamborghini and even the corvette uses.
Vintage 8:24PM (7/15/2008)
NEW CARS ARE NOT GREEN. PERIOD.
Making already existing cars last as long as possible to reduce demand for newer vehicles IS green. Maintain your car well, and drive the snot out of it. This 'green' movement by producing more new crap is NOT eco-friendly!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooN9INJxxy4
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MajorGeek 9:14PM (7/15/2008)
OMG, I can't believe I am going to do this. Thats TWICE today we agree. This green crap needs to stop. People need to be honest about what they are doing. Simply use less. That includes when things that damage the environment even when they are affordable, like fuel.
That said, I love this car and went to the article to see a timeline expecting 2015 or some crap, they are talking potentially 4th quarter 2009. Thats right, about 14 months from now, we should know where they are at. I again wonder aloud why so many smaller companies have these vehicles out while the big companies in some cases are lacking a plan. My hope is they simply got caught with their pants down, after all what auto manufacturer would have believed anyone wanted an electric car 2-3 years ago? Prius sales back that up.
jake 9:40PM (7/15/2008)
Beh, that's if the older car is actually green, which I doubt it is. It's been established ~80% of the energy used in the lifecycle of a car is from operation. Driving a car is very energy intensive (you are moving thousands of pounds of weight to transport, most of time, just one person).
Telling Americans to never buy new cars has as much chance at succeeding as telling everyone to ride bikes and use (& build, for the places without it) public transit (which would likely be even more eco-friendly in the long run). Under this situation the next logical step is to improve the cleanliness of operation for new cars, since people are going to buy new cars no matter what.
All you are really proposing is for companies to stop improving their new cars. The video you posted is of no real use b/c at the start it already established it had NO credibility ("paid for by a guy in a writing class").
A couple of points on the article:
Like how Johnny noticed I think the 6 years is the lifespan of the battery not how long the charge will last. Common sense should tell you this b/c since when do we measure battery capacity by years (if you never drive it for the 6 years this would already skew the results :P).
Another thing is "while five-hundred horsies can indeed be extracted from an electric motor, that would have to be one big honkin' motor"
Not really. The Tesla's motor (now capable of 300+hp, and last I heard the true number is ~320bhp) is only 70lbs and the size of a watermelon. A 500bhp capable motor shouldn't be that much bigger. More rides on whether the battery pack is sufficiently large enough or has enough power density to supply 1000bhp total to the motors (with the newest batteries it shouldn't be a problem given a bunch of batteries were annouced with 5x, even 20x the power density of current laptop cells used in the Tesla roadster). The bulk of a weight in an EV is the batteries.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/EDITORIAL/car_page_content/33845.html
Though I doubt SSC has the ability to do this, as a car enthusiast, I would welcome a Veyron beating supercar EV.
why not the LS2LS7? 10:19PM (7/15/2008)
New anything is not green period. Vintage, you'd better not buy a new computer ever. Cause it's not green. Even driving the car you have isn't green.
Your absolutism is boring.
Rocketboy 9:25AM (7/16/2008)
Wow Vintage, I've never heard that before!
Vintage 9:26AM (7/16/2008)
Did I say stop buying new cars? No. I just said that new cars AREN'T GREEN. Neither is 'new anything', unless it's made from pretty much found objects, or some other very efficient method.
I'm not saying you have to be green either, Mr. Whynot. I'm just saying we should call a spade a spade, instead of fluffing things up into things that they aren't. NEW CARS, are not green. That's all I've said.
Rocketboy 3:11PM (7/16/2008)
Here's a new green car right here:
http://flickr.com/photos/steve-brandon/2380070461/
pmiddle5 8:35PM (7/15/2008)
IDKKKKKK. They did back up their talk with the UltimateAero surprisingly. Definitely need to step it up with the design department
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ddub 8:39PM (7/15/2008)
Mr. Fusion can provide the necessary 1.21 gigawatts to power this beast.
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Andrew Tanasescu 9:00PM (7/15/2008)
They will need one of these signs on the car too...
http://tinyurl.com/fluxjijawatts
tankd0g 8:54PM (7/15/2008)
Surplus Russian navy nuclear reactor.
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Andrew Tanasescu 9:07PM (7/15/2008)
Ive never really looked into it, but what is the worlds fastest electric car. I quick google search came up in Ohio states bullet car, which is not really what i would call it. But it does hit a very impressive 321mph. But again, its not really what i would call a car
so then your left with Tesla, Tzero, various other little electric car companies and the DIY guys to go against. Ive seen some impressive homemade electric drag cars, but i really dont think those things go in excess of 150mph.
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jake 10:02PM (7/15/2008)
Don't forget the Eliica for a couple of years ago. It reached 230mph on the Nardo track and had 640hp. Fastest production car of course is the SSC Ultimate Aero @ 255.83mph for comparison.
The Eliica isn't a production car though, b/c I don't believe they ever put it into production, but it could be put into production at around $255k cost per car.
A 200+mph EV is definitely possible to build, it just requires the right transmission and of course a lot of money. Even though the Tesla Roadster should already prove EVs can also be performance vehicles, a 200+mph EV supercar should really drive home the point further that there are performance benefits from an EV drivetrain given most of the EVs we have seen so far don't bother to aim for higher top speed (for cost, efficiency, complexity reasons).
Again, I doubt SSC can build something like this without some outside help, kind of like how Fisker had to go to Quantum Technologies, but it'll be interesting either way.