Best known for its basic, lightweight open-top sports cars, Ariel has taken a new direction with an electric hypercar, powered by four electric motors and a jet engine range extender.
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Unconventional British supercar brand Ariel, known for its streamlined lightweight specials, has unveiled its first hypercar.
And, true to form, it has a new take on the hypercar formula, starting with the name of its latest model.
the Ariel Hypercar – yes, ‘Hypercar’ is how the company spells it – it’s an 880kW electric supercar from one of the UK’s best known niche sports car manufacturers.
Unveiled this week, the Ariel Hipercar represents a significant departure from the company’s iconic Atom and Nomad open-top sports cars, but not just because it has a roof.
Due to go into production in 2024, the Ariel Hipercar, which represents Hellogh Byformance Californiarbon Reduction: Uses carbon fiber bodywork to cover its bonded aluminum chassis and aluminum subframes, reducing its claimed weight to 1500kg.
While the Ariel Hipercar is more than twice as heavy as the Ariel Atom at around 600kg, its claimed weight makes it about 150kg lighter than a Porsche 911 Turbo, but with more than twice the power and torque.
Unlike the petrol Atom and Nomad, the Ariel Hipercar is powered by four 220kW/450Nm electric motors, one for each wheel, providing combined outputs of 880kW/1800Nm.
Ariel claims the four-wheel drive Hipercar can accelerate from zero to 60 mph (98 km/h) in 2.09 seconds, a fraction faster than the Rimac Nevera’s record time of 2.1 seconds to 100 km/h. h, before reaching the top. speed of 250km/h.
The British company also offers a rear-wheel drive variant of the Ariel Hypercar, with a claimed output of 440kW and 900Nm, and a reduced curb weight of around 1400kg.
The Ariel Hipercar is powered by an 800-volt, 62-kWh battery developed by British motorsports company Cosworth, which provides up to 150 miles of range.
However, customers can choose to have their Ariel Hipercar fitted with a jet-turbine range extender, which allows the battery to recharge on the go, even though the unit does not drive the wheels.
Under the skin, Bilstein adaptive dampers help keep the Michelin Cup 2 tires in contact with the road, while AP Racing brakes (six-piston front calipers, four-piston rear) help bring the electric supercar’s blistering speeds to a halt. of 1.5 tons.
Ariel has yet to set a price for the Hipercar, although the company has stated that it will cost less than £1 million (AU$1.7 million) before road costs.
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