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| Renovo proves even an electric drive train can look the part. |
THE most interesting car at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concourse
d’Elegance last week was a super electric car built by Renovo Motors and it puts
most internal combustion engines (ICE) in the shade.
Using a factory-modified Shelby American CSX9000 rolling chassis
that resembles the Cobra Daytona Coupé in every aspect outside, the electric
Renovo Coupe features twin mid-mounted sequential axial-flux motors producing
more than 370 kW and 1 356 Nm of torque under the hood. That is an old-fashioned
500 horses and 1 000 pounds per foot.
These electric components make less than 40% of the total weight of
the car, and yet delivers the highest peak power in its class.
Weighing about 1,5 ton with a driver, the Renovo claims the coupe
does 0-100 km/h in less than 3,4 seconds, with a top speed of 193 km/h.
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| The Daytona Coupe, now with 500 horses and 1000 pounds per foot. |
Under the hood, patent-pending battery technology in separate
enclosures achieves a balanced weight distribution on a chassic streamed for
airflow underneath.
Renovo said the batteries can fast-charge in just 30 minutes and
maintains compatibility with a wide range of standard Level 2 charge systems.
Renovo Motors plans a limited series production in 2015, with the
price reportedly at $529 000 (around R5,6 million).
