A mamba for the grandchildren

I'm on record for predicting that our children’s children who want to own a car will order a bespoke set of wheels from their favourite boutique vehicle factory — and to this vision we want to add these future cars may look a lot like this Valene Black Mamba.

Released by Silex Power, the Black Mamba is a technologically advanced, super-light, unique sports car aimed at speed- and fun-loving individuals.

Silex Power already practises what I predicted will be the design pricess of future personal transport:

• start with a roll cage;

• add seats and seat belts;

• chose a hub motor; and

• clad as per client wishes.

Safety

On its website, Valene Motors says that driver and passenger safety were a priority during the design
and development of the vehicle. The vehicle is built using strong seamless steel tubing, providing a robust protective shell surrounding the occupants. The unique seating position places the driver and passenger’s legs well behind the front axle, reducing the chance of injury in a frontal collision.

The design also delivers a very low centre of gravity, increasing the car’s stability. Roll bars installed behind the headrests reduce the chance of injury in the highly improbable eventuality of a rollover. Using composite materials with high elastic and memory properties, the body of the vehicle can sustain low speed impacts without any significant damage, and at the same time, the chances of shards and fragments injuring the occupants during a high-speed impact is reduced drastically.

A choice of power

The Valene Black Mamba will be available with a range of options, starting from the entry level 107 bhp (80 kW) to the insane 807 bhp (600 kW) flagship. The 107 bhp version can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 4,2 seconds, thanks to its lightweight construction. We won’t tell you the acceleration time of the 810 bhp version, but you can easily extrapolate its extraordinary performance. With a choice of battery packs from 15 kWh, 30 kWh and 50 kWh formats, the Black Mamba can achieve up to 500 km autonomy.

Cladding and interior

Thanks to its streamlined sleek design, the Valene Black Mamba offers minimal air resistance, low uplift and high down-force at high speeds.

This delivers better roadholding under high-performance driving conditions for which the car is designed. The aerodynamics of the vehicle also allow passive cooling of the battery pack and electric motor via the vent at the top of the vehicle, which directly cool the battery/electronics compartment. No fans are necessary during operation, thus substantially increasing the reliability of the vehicle.

It is equipped with an AC/DC on-board charger and is compatible with Combo 2 DC chargers. The Valene Black Mamba will also be the first vehicle to support HyperCharging Technology — going from flat to fully charged in less than five minutes — on all battery pack sizes!

Surround sound

It is all about the fast and furious either. The Valene Black Mamba will also be one of the first production cars to offer the Clarion Full Digital Sound System as an option. Full digital signal transfer from a digital source enables direct input of high-resolution audio sources to the speakers without worrying about sound deterioration. High-quality full digital sound is reproduced with purity that’s true to the original.

High-efficiency conversion from digital signals into sound makes the system capable of delivering four times the high power output of conventional full-digital systems, while achieving low power consumption that’s only about one fifth that of analogue systems.

The occupants will experience exceptional sound quality while preserving the energy stored in the batteries.

Silex Power hopes to manufacture and distribute from 2017. Prices are expected to start at €35 000 (ZAR529 958).

• Silex is also looking for international distributors. Interested parties can contact it using the relevant form on www.valenemotors.com