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Volkswagen’s SSP vehicle architecture back on track for 2026 debut

Volkswagen execs would tell you some very unfunny things happened on the way to electrification: Design decisions wrought years of damage, vehicle platform and software catastrophes scotched launch timelines for not just one but at least three brands, and chaos piled high enough to unseat a CEO. Those execs might not be correct about that middle one, though, if Volkswagen Group CEO Oliver Blume is telling the truth. During a presentation laying out the conglomerate’s ten-year plan at the annual capital markets day, Blume said the Scalable Systems Platform (SSP) will launch on time, in 2026. This counters recent reporting as well as complaints from individual brands late last year and this year. Due to ongoing problems with the software needed to make the SSP work, Automotive News Europe reported last July that Audi’s first vehicle with the new software had been delayed up to three years, to 2027. A few months later, Autocar reported that Porsche updated its IPO prospectus with a warning that software holdups might delay the battery-electric 718 twins and Cayenne.

We don’t know how the company got things back on track, but investors will be pleased and customers should be, too. Blume’s presentation made clear that VW expects to launch a platform even more potent than the one we were told about two years ago. Previous CEO Herbert Diess gave a similar presentation in 2021 explaining that the SSP would serve every group brand, and serve every kind of vehicle from city cars with as little as 114 horsepower to supercars with as much as 1,140 hp. Blume, however, said the SSP will be able to power drivetrains making as much as 1,700 hp — 560 hp more than the last projection.

But wait, there’s more. SSP development will break down into three paths: Urban city cars for Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Cupra; compact and mid-size vehicles for VW, Audi, Porsche and Skoda; and large vehicles for Audi, Porsche, Bentley and Lamborghini. Note the absence of Bugatti.

This one skateboard chassis will eventually replace the current MQB, MLB, MSB and MMB internal combustion platforms, the present MEB, PPE and J1 electric platforms, and the MEB+ arriving in 2025. It will be powered by new “unified” batteries of various chemistries developed in-house and running on an 800-volt electrical architecture. The charging time to take the batteries from 10% to 80% SOC will be 12 minutes, compared to the 35 minutes needed for the current MEB battery-electric platform; the interim MEB+ platform will lower that time to 21 minutes. The fleshed-out software dubbed 2.0 will enable Level 4 hands-free driving.

To get a sense of scale and return on investment when this is all put together, the current MEB platform sits under about ten models total, from the ID.3 to the Audi E-tron GT. The large SSP will support 14 models from Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche by itself. According to Blume, those 14 SSP-based models are predicted to sell about 1.14 million units between debut and 2038, netting the group more than 150 billion in revenue, with profit margins above 20%. For comparison, Porsche’s 2022 operating profit was 18%.

It’s not clear which vehicle will introduce the world to the SSP in 2026, but we do know the second-generation all-electric Audi Q8 E-Tron, Audi’s Project Artemis and Volkswagen’s Project Trinity have all been penciled in around that time. If Blume’s assertions still hold weight at that time, then a line from Herbert Diess’ 2021 presentation could still come true: That come 2030, VW will make more money in the EV business than the ICE business.

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July 1, 2023 / Comments Off

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2025 Lamborghini Urus to drop gas-only model, go PHEV-only

After introducing the first hybrid to the brand this year in the Revuelto, Lamborghini’s transformation takes two more big steps next year. Autocar reports that toward the end of 2024, the Urus will switch to a PHEV-only powertrain. We’ve known for a while there was an electrical cord headed to the Urus’ flanks, but we didn’t expect Lamborghini would give up the pure ICE variant. Brand honcho Stephan Winkelmann confirmed to Autocar the engine will be a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8, but didn’t give output figures. A 2021 report in Car magazine — back when the purported Urus PowerHybrid was due in 2022 — predicted the engine in question is coming from Porsche and would produce about 660 horsepower and 660 pound-feet of torque. The horse count would rise with help from a 168-hp electric motor in the transmission. However, the gearbox’s internals wouldn’t allow any more than 660 lb-ft. That’s still a perfectly fine number; the 6.5-liter V12 and three electric motors in the new Revuelto “only” throw a combined 783 lb-ft.

Today’s Urus romps with a twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 making 657 horsepower and 627 lb-ft. in both S and track-focused Performante trims. Theoretically, the Urus PHEV could crank that to about 830 hp and 660 lb-ft. The additional power would be partially offset by additional weight, as much as 551 pounds if Car is correct. This SUV would carry on until 2029, when an all-electric version ushers in a second generation.

The Lamborghini Huracan successor is expected to debut before the PHEV Urus but go on sale about the same time as the Urus. Since that successor will use an adapted version of the engine headed to the Urus mated to the transmission in the Revuelto, we expect the release of vital details to begin as soon as the new baby coupe makes its introduction, thought to be around next spring.

To hear Winkelmann talk, we’re ruminating now on the last hurrah of old-school, visceral, ICE-powered Lamborghinis. The brand has a high-riding battery-electric 2+2 GT penned in to debut in 2028 with about 300 miles of range. That will be the next big sign of things to come. He told Autocar, “You go with the most difficult legislation, which is the US, and is really California. Other states adopt California’s rules — typically big cities and that’s where we sell cars. …

Even if it [legislation] is not banning EVs, taxation will be a killing factor. Then mega-cities are talking of abolishing non-EVs before 2035 regardless.” And despite the work of sister brand and collaborator Porsche, Winkelmann’s not sold on synthetic fuels yet. For him, they’re “more about keeping alive the current car parc,” not creating new ICE-powered models using said fuels.

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June 26, 2023 / Comments Off

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Aston Martin ties up with Lucid, extends deal with Mercedes-Benz

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings is tying up with Lucid Group Inc. on electric vehicle technology, uniting the storied British carmaker and relative automotive newcomer both backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund.

Aston Martin will pay $232 million in shares and cash to Lucid in exchange for battery-electric powertrain components, the companies said Monday. The UK manufacturer also extended a years-long cooperation with Mercedes-Benz Group AG, though it will no longer issue more stock to the German carmaker that already owns a roughly 9% stake.

The announcements sent Aston Martin shares soaring as much as 15%, their biggest intraday jump in over a month, while Lucid advanced as much as 9.1% in premarket US trading.

“The proposed supply agreement with Lucid is a game changer for the future EV-led growth of Aston Martin,” Chairman Lawrence Stroll said in a statement.

Stroll, 63, is three years into an effort to turn around the 110-year-old British manufacturer with a long history of financial trouble. Aston Martin has needed several capital raises since he rescued the company in early 2020, the most recent of which made China’s Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund major shareholders.

The Public Investment Fund, or PIF, owns about 49% of Lucid and 18% of Aston Martin, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Aston Martin’s longstanding financial woes have made it increasingly reliant on partners for technology that other automakers consider core to their products. Models including the DBX sport utility vehicle and DB12 sports car are powered by Mercedes engines.

While Mercedes will continue to provide access to powertrains and electric architectures for current and future Aston Martin vehicles, Aston Martin will pay in cash rather than shares as previously planned.

An Aston Martin spokesman said Lucid’s technology is available now, whereas Mercedes’s AMG electric platform isn’t accessible until late 2025.

The deal with Lucid — which has been producing its lone EV, the Air sedan, since September 2021 — will help Aston Martin toward its ambitious electrification targets. The UK carmaker plans to launch its first plug-in hybrid supercar, the Valhalla, early next year and its first battery-electric vehicle in 2025. By the following year, all new product lines will have an electrified powertrain option.

Aston Martin said it will make phased cash payments to Lucid totaling $132 million and has committed to spending at least $225 million on the EV maker’s powertrain components. Aston Martin also will pay another $10 million to Lucid for integrating its technology into its vehicles.

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June 26, 2023 / Comments Off

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McMurtry Speirling Pure track car starts at $1M, preorders now open

With the release of a production version of the McMurtry Speirling, the England-based company has taken the next step in its goal to become “one of the world’s most prestigious and long-standing automotive brands, founded on motorsport innovation.” This version for sale is called the Speirling Pure and is only for track use; a road-legal variant is reportedly in development. This one’s also slightly different than the prototype used to break the record up the 1.16-mile hill at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed. That one was said to clock a time of 39.14 on the day, a benchmark soon revised downward to an even more impressive 39.081 seconds, eclipsing the time set by the Volkswagen ID.R by nearly a full second. That’s a ridiculous delta to achieve in little more than one mile.

When we say this one’s a little different, that means it’s better. There’s a new skirted fan system that weighs 14% less, is 15% more efficient, and is less affected by airflow variation. A new battery weighs 3% less, the battery casing weighs 15.5% less, and the new e-axle that uses two motors to power the rear wheels is 0.5% more efficient. Weight savings continue everywhere from the chassis to the steering and brake systems, wiring loom, and pedal box. The front tires and rear tires are each 60 millimeters wider, wrapped around lighter 19-inch wheels instead of 18-inchers, and tucked under reshaped wheel arches. Buyers can spec antilock braking if they desire, and new gearing takes the top speed from 150 miles per hour to 190.

The changes add about 10 inches to the overall length, but the single-seater is still just 135.8 inches long, roughly 18 inches shorter than a Mazda Miata. We’re told the diminutive dimensions are still able to swallow an occupant up to 6’7″ and more than 300 pounds.

With the weight reduction, output from the motors has come down to an even 999 horsepower. The company says the 60-kwH Molicell battery lasts long enough to power the Speirling Pure to 10 laps of England’s Silverstone track at record pace, then can be fast-charged back to full in just 20 minutes. We still haven’t been given charging specs. The driver would want the rest, the Speirling able to hit peak lateral forces of 3G when that fan kicks in with more than 4,000 pounds of downforce for a car that weighs about half that.

Preorders are open now for the 100 units McMurtry said it will make. The first validation prototype is going on display at next month’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Pricing starts at £820,000 before taxes, or $1.04M U.S. at current exchange rates. The firm will spend 2024 completing a testing program, first deliveries anticipated in early 2025.

June 22, 2023 / Comments Off

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Lotus Evija X track special appears in spy photos at the Nurburgring

Few people would say the Lotus Evija is lacking in performance. It’s meant to make just shy of 2,000 horsepower and is light for an electric car at around 3,700 pounds. But apparently Lotus wants to go further. These spy shots reveal a wild track-only special that’s clearly labeled the Lotus Evija X testing at the Nürburgring.

We’re assuming this X will be substantially lighter than a regular Evija. It has a bare carbon body with seemingly fewer individual pieces. The headlights are gone and so are the rear windows. The interior appears gutted, too.

That carbon body is far from stock, too. It’s much wider and has all manner of downforce-producing add-ons. The front has a massive front splitter and canards and cutouts above the front wheels. The sides even have wide splitters with struts. And the X’s crown aero accessory is that enormous wing that rises well above the roof.

The wide body also encompasses fat slick racing tires that are almost certainly not street legal. They bear the Pirelli P Zero name on the sidewalls, and they’re wrapped around center-lock wheels. AP Racing brakes are tucked inside.

There are of course plenty of questions surrounding the Evija X. It’s definitely a track-only machine, but is it a one-off, or is it going to be sold in extremely limited numbers to select buyers? Maybe Lotus wants to take the Evija racing? Though it seems more like a rules-be-damned type of car like the Pagani Zonda R.

Or maybe the Volkswagen ID.R, the fastest electric car to lap the ‘Ring, would be a closer analogue to the Evija X. The spy photographer that provided these photos said the track was rented out for the day by Lotus, and some sort of notary was on hand, likely to certify a lap time. If Lotus is gunning for an EV lap record there, the Evija R is going to be outrageously fast. The ID.R’s time sits at a shocking 6:05.336. And if the Lotus tops it, it would become the second fastest overall car at the ‘Ring. We’ll definitely be looking forward to more details and an eventual lap time.

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June 14, 2023 / Comments Off

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Porsche Mission X concept points at brand’s next hypercar

Frequent interviews with Porsche CEO Oliver Blume include a question as to when we’ll see another Porsche hypercar. He once answered the queries with some version of “not until the middle of the decade at the earliest least.” His most recent answer, from April of this year, pushed that back toward the end of the decade; Blume and R&D chief Michael Steiner say current battery technology isn’t prepared to satisfy the demands a Porsche hypercar would make on it, so everyone will need to wait for next-gen cells due in four or five years. So the car you see here, the Porsche Mission X concept, isn’t the next Porsche hypercar and at the moment isn’t planned for sale. However, the battery-electric two-seater with the “ultra high-performance” powertrain is full of indicators about what might be down the road.

Dressed a specially created Rocket Metallic with satin carbon fiber accents, dimensions 177 inches in length and 78.7 inches in width fit the concept into same rough footprint as the 2003 Carrera GT and 2013 918 Spyder. The 20-inch wheels in front and 21-inchers in back eat up nearly half the two-seater’s 47.2-inch height. Since this concept counts as one of the brand’s 75th birthday presents to itself, historic cues mix with modern ones. The illuminated DRLs in the photos rework the four-point signature seen on the automaker’s road cars. At the same time, the DRLs and the four LED main beams buried in the lattice support structure call back to the stacked double headlights that sat inches off the ground on Le Mans racers like the 906 and 908. Passengers enter through doors that swing up and forward like those on top-class Le Mans prototypes going back decades, then sit under a glass dome built around a skeleton of carbon fiber reinforced plastic. And the Mission X marks the debut of Porsche’s new crest.

It’s all modern in back. A horizontal lattice supports thin, ornate LED taillights that bracket floating, illuminated Porsche logotype. When charging, the “E” pulses in white.

The cabin begs even onlookers to hit top speed. The carbon-backed seats and their six-point harnesses appear largely built into the tub. Both feature Andalusia Brown lowers, the driver’s throne additionally signified by the Kalahari Gray upper. There are four paddles behind the steering yoke — we’re not sure what they control other than the obvious guess of regen braking. The ornate stopwatch in front of the passenger is a removable unit clipped into a bayonet system on the instrument panel, created by Porsche Design. At the track, the stopwatch could be used in conjunction with the multiple built-in cameras. One imagines other accessories, like a screen, could go here when not on the track.

Porsche calls it a “reinterpretation of a hypercar,” but we don’t know enough about the Mission X yet to understand what that means. Drivetrain and output specs weren’t included with the reveal. We’ve been told the battery sits behind the cockpit in a way that mimics mid-engined dynamics, the setup called “e-core.” The automaker said that were the street-legal coupe to get a production run, it would aim to “be the fastest road-legal vehicle around the Nürburgring Nordschleife; have a power-to-weight ratio of roughly one hp per 2.2 lbs.; achieve downforce values that are well in excess of those delivered by the current 911 GT3 RS; offer significantly improved charging performance with its 900-volt system architecture and charge roughly twice as quickly as the current Porsche frontrunner, the Taycan Turbo S.”

Starting from the top, the Mission X has the Mercedes-AMG One in its sights, the other Stuttgart hypercar maker owning the Nordschleife record with a time of 6:35.18. That’s about 22 seconds faster than the 918 Spyder ran the lap, the 918 the first production car to break the seven-minute barrier.

The power-to-weight ratio is measured in metric horsepower, so 0.986 of our American ponies per kilogram. The 918 Spyder weighed about 3,650 pounds, or 1,656 kilograms. Given the weight of an electric hypercar — the Rimac Nevera weighs about 5,070 pounds or 2,300 kg — we might think a Mission X comes in at 1,700 hp on the extreme low end to as much as 2,300 hp.

The GT3 RS produces as much as 860 kg (1,896 pounds) of downforce but uses a giant wing and other aero addenda to do it, meaning the undisturbed Mission X concept’s glasshouse and upper surfaces are hiding an underbody full of chicanery.

And the Taycan Turbo S maxes out at 270-kilowatt charging to go from 5% to 80% state of charge in a little more than 20 minutes. Read: The Mission X concept should fill-up quick.

As for the chances of a version you can buy, Porsche says Mission X “production to be decided in due time.” We have no doubt the phones at HQ have been ringing with “name-your-price” offers all day. We don’t see why Porsche would miss the chance to celebrate its birthday with a cool new concept, some treats for its best clients, some icons for posterity and a stupendous haul of loot.

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June 8, 2023 / Comments Off

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Ferrari supercar spy photos may show LaFerrari successor

Ferrari has made big news with the launch of its first ever crossover in the Purosangue, perhaps to the chagrin of the Ferrari faithful. But it seems the supercar builder will have something for traditional fans soon. Spy photos show a serious-looking prototype, and we suspect it’s a successor to the automaker’s last flagship, the LaFerrari.

This prototype does still look like a fairly early prototype, sporting slightly blocky bodywork and parts bin lights. We’re also not expecting the giant fixed rear wing to appear on the final product, especially since it looks like the struts are mounted in slots where a retractable piece would go.

But there’s still plenty to glean. The center section of the body, mainly the cockpit and roofline are probably close to production. That cockpit is particularly narrow, and, like the LaFerrari, features a door panel that goes into the roof, likely to aid entry, and a rear window that tapers toward the rear, boat-tail style. The overall body is also fairly rudimentary, but between the substantial width, aggressive diffuser and giant wing, this car will probably have impressive amounts of downforce.

There’s still a lot that’s unknown about this new supercar. The powertrain is probably the biggest mystery. We’re willing to bet it will be a hybrid of some sort, just as the LaFerrari was and as more modern Ferraris such as the 296 GTB are becoming. The number of cylinders is the question, as well as whether forced induction will be used. It would be nice to see one final top-end application of a Ferrari V12 before emissions and fuel economy regulations make it non-viable.

Also, while this prototype suggests there’s still a decent amount of development remaining, we wouldn’t be surprised if the car is revealed in the next year or so. Ferrari has a rough cadence of 10 years between flagship supercars starting with the F40. That has fluctuated by a year or two either way, but with that in mind, we’re coming up on a decade since the launch of the LaFerrari.

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June 1, 2023 / Comments Off

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Pagani is developing an EV but says batteries remain too heavy

Like many of its peers and rivals, Pagani has spent the past couple of years experimenting with electric technology. While the project is ongoing, the Italian company explained that it likely won’t launch an EV in the near future because battery technology remains far too heavy.

“Our goal is to create something that has to be lightweight. Looking at Pagani, what you see that is common with all the vehicles that we produce, they have to be lightweight,” said Christopher Pagani, the son of company founder Horacio Pagani, in an interview with Top Gear.

He added that the brand’s EV project started in 2018, and “there is no need for us to stop that,” but weight remains the biggest hurdle. “So, probably, nowadays with the existing technology we cannot create the Pagani the way that we would like to do,” he clarified. His comments echo those made by his father in 2022. At the time, Horacio Pagani also noted that his team has “never found interest in the supercar market for an EV” and added that forcing small carmakers to go electric doesn’t make sense when “90% of energy is produced in a bad way.”

Electric technology has improved in the past decade, but Pagani explained that delivering the level of performance its customers want would require building a car with a 1,300-plus-pound battery pack. For context, the V12-powered Utopia (pictured) has a dry weight of about 2,822 pounds while the electric Lotus Evija weighs around 3,700 pounds. The EV is quicker, but there’s more to a supercar than flat-out speed.

Pagani plans to continue using a Mercedes-Benz-sourced V12 engine modified in-house for the foreseeable future. Interestingly, the brand revealed that Mercedes-AMG floated the idea of using a V8-electric hybrid drivetrain during the Utopia’s development process. Pagani held its ground and launched the car with a big V12. “We, let’s say, ‘challenged them’ to keep the V12 and they accepted,” the company said.

What’s next depends largely on regulations in various markets. “We know that for small manufacturers can have [the V12] at least until 2035. But, we’re not afraid of approaching another powertrain in the future. We just have to know what the rules are,” Pagani told Top Gear.

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May 30, 2023 / Comments Off

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Watch a Rimac Nevera set two dozen speed and acceleration records in a day

Rimac is no stranger to ultra-quick EVs, but its latest model is on a different level entirely. The Nevera recently recorded 23 new performance records, setting a new 0-400-0 kilometers-per-hour record and many more.

Rimac took the Nevera to a German test track, where it took just 1.81 seconds to reach 100 kmh (62 mph) and ran the quarter mile in 8.25 seconds. The standing mile flew by in 20.59 seconds, and Rimac set several other staggering records for acceleration between speed markers, such as 1.74 seconds for 0-60 mph and 3.21 seconds for 0-100 mph.

One of the more impressive numbers put up by the car was its 0-400-0 km/h (0-249-0 mph) time of 29.93 seconds. The assessment tests the car’s acceleration, aerodynamics, top speed, and braking, and Rimac said the Nevera did it more than a second faster than the previous record holder. A Koenigsegg Regera ran the test in 31.49 seconds in 2019.

Rimac equipped the car with street-legal Michelin Cup 2 R tires and ran the tests on a non-prepped surface. Testing took place at the Automotive Testing Papenburg facility, and Dewesoft and RaceLogic verified the records. Speed records sometimes run into trouble when doubters question the validity of testing, so having two independent testers on site is understandable.

While impressive, the records seem like a requirement for a $2 million-plus electric hypercar. Rimac began production on the car in late 2022, and the 1,914-horsepower electric powertrain uses four electric motors to generate its prodigious output. Surprisingly, the battery can support way more horsepower, but the car’s well-heeled buyers will have to make do with “just” 1,914 horses. Rimac claims a 258-mph top speed for the car, and the EPA estimates a 205-mile cruising range, though using more than a few horsepower at a time will likely shorten that distance by quite a bit.

May 17, 2023 / Comments Off

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2024 Ford Mustang interior, and we drive the BMW X7 M60i | Autoblog Podcast #771

In this episode of the Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Road Test Editor Zac Palmer. They kick things off with a discussion about the 2024 Ford Mustang’s interior that Zac got to spend time in this week. Then, in the news, the pair run through news of a CT5-V Blackwing refresh by way of spy shots, the reveal of a new AC Cobra, rumors of the 911 GT2 RS going hybrid for its next generation and hit on the start of the Formula 1 season. Next, they discuss the cars they’ve been driving as of late, including our long-term 2022 Kia EV6 GT-Line, the 2023 BMW X7 M60i and the 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross. Finally, our hosts field a Spend My Money question for someone looking to go electric for their next vehicle purchase.

Send us your questions for the Mailbag and Spend My Money at: Podcast@Autoblog.com.

Autoblog Podcast #771

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March 10, 2023 / Comments Off

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Lamborghini previews the Aventador’s hybrid, 1,001-hp successor

Lamborghini is nearly ready to introduce the Aventador’s long-awaited successor. Referred to as the LB744, the company’s next flagship model adopts a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain that’s built around a new, naturally-aspirated V12 and rated at about 1,000 horsepower.

We’ll need to be patient to discover the model’s exterior design, but Lamborghini provided us with a very good idea of what the specifications sheet looks like. The system’s centerpiece is a mid-mounted, 6.5-liter V12 that eschews forced induction — the company has previously made it clear that it wants to keep the naturally-aspirated 12-cylinder alive for as long as possible. While the Aventador was V12-powered as well, it sounds like the mechanical similarities between the two cars end there. In the upcoming LB744, the engine is bolted to an eight-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission that’s mounted transversely behind the engine instead of longitudinally directly in front of it.

The company will need to find a new name for the transmission tunnel: it now houses a 3.8-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. The electricity stored in it zaps three electric motors: one is integrated into the transmission, while the other two are each assigned to one of the front wheels. This layout delivers through-the-road all-wheel-drive, so there’s no mechanical connection between the axles, and it allows the LB744 to drive on electricity alone for short distances. The configuration also provides a torque vectoring function for sharper cornering.

Lamborghini pegs the system’s total output at 1,015 metric horsepower, which represents approximately 1,001 horsepower measured in U.S. terms. The bulk of the cavalry comes from the V12; it’s billed as the lightest and most powerful 12-cylinder that Lamborghini has ever made and it develops about 813 horsepower at a screaming 9,250 rpm (that’s 250 rpm short of its redline). Maximum torque checks in at 535 pound-feet. We haven’t heard the new engine yet, but Lamborghini stresses that it went to great lengths to give it an exhaust note worthy of a supercar.

More details about the LB744 will emerge in the not-too-distant future.

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March 7, 2023 / Comments Off

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Musician Wyclef Jean reveals Attucks Apex AP0 electric supercar

Wyclef Jean, the Haitian-born entrepreneur and entertainer best known for his hip hop musical forays both solo and with The Fugees, has launched a new automotive company. The first machine that Wyclef unveiled to the masses at The Amelia in Florida and to his 2.2 million followers in Instagram is called the Attucks Apex AP0 electric supercar.

Now that you’ve seen the car and heard the rap, let’s take a closer look at what makes the Attucks Apex AP0 tick, starting with the name. The company’s name comes from Crispus Attucks, a Black man who was killed by British troops at the Boston Massacre, known as start of the American Revolutionary War. As for the numbers, the AP0 has a claimed top speed of 190 miles per hour and is reportedly capable of running from 0-60 in a scant 2.3 seconds. Power comes from an electric motor at the rear that spins out 650 horsepower and 580 Nm (428 pound-feet) of torque. Power comes from a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery pack of unknown origin. While there are a great many electric cars with a much more powerful motors, the AP0’s performance claims are buoyed by a claimed weight of 1,200 kilograms (less than 2,650 pounds), made possible by a “monocoque carbon chassis, with a modular spaceframe and a central spine for maximum rigidity.” Somewhat shocking is the price, but because in a world of multimillion dollar super cars, it has a comparatively bargain suggested price of $350,000.

Attucks claims the Apex AP0 is the lightest electric supercar in existence. It certainly does look comparatively diminutive in pictures. To put its claimed weight into perspective, the Rimac Nevera weighs in at 4,740 pounds — making it more than twice that of the Apex AP0 — and gets its motive force from a 1,914-hp electric drivetrain fed by a 120-kWh battery pack. Even the Lotus Evija, from a company historically obsessed with weight, comes in around 3,700 pounds. Of course, the Nevera and Evija cost a couple million dollars, too. We’re not sure how Attucks was able to stealthily engineer such a lightweight electric supercar or how it could sell such a machine for such a comparatively reasonable sum, but we certainly look forward to finding out more.

According to the press release announcing this new venture, “Attucks’ future and technology is a platform to voice and create dreams in the community, headquartered in Little Haiti, Miami.” It continues, “This platform will be responsible for discovering, grooming, and developing technology, starting with inventions, technological solutions, sustainability, creativity and design, coding, and web3.” We’re not sure how the company’s platform will translate into future products like the AP0, so like we said in the previous paragraph, we’ll definitely stay tuned.

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March 6, 2023 / Comments Off

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Lamborghini applies to trademark V12 hybrid sounds in EV mode

Lamborghini is sprinkling various European intellectual property offices with bits of its future V12 super sports car it wants to protect. The internet continues to dig those bits up. After a couple of spy specialists found line drawings of the hybrid V12 coupe filed with the World Intellectual Property Office in North Macedonia, CarBuzz dredged up a sound clip of the V12 in pure electric mode filed with the European Intellectual Property Office. Spy shots have showed the car will come with a City Mode that’s expected to enable battery-only motivation. The audio clip appears to present three modes of the electric driving sounds required of all electric-capable vehicles to warn pedestrians of the EV’s approach.

CarBuzz believes the first sample was made under steady-state driving. It sounds a little like dark ambient ASMR with some wind in the background, like something from Atrium Carceri or Metatron Omega. The second would be under acceleration, the sinister electric symphony rising in pitch then fading as the unheard V12 internal combustion engine takes over. The last clip would be the reverse, as the V12 gives way to the battery again.

There’s nothing amiss in any of the sounds, but we find ourselves thinking there’s nothing especially Lamborghini about them, either. That’s not a slight against the crew from Sant’ Agata, that’s a statement about what the future of hybrid and electric supercars could mean to us everywhere outside of a highway or Cars and Coffee. It could make Dodge’s Fratzonic Exhaust that much more interesting assuming the production sonics match what we’ve been told, and a recent Ferrari patent shows a rival group of Italians trying to forestall roads full of computer monitor noises with a “sonority current.”

January 23, 2023 / Comments Off

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Hybrid Corvette E-Ray teased in ‘Stealth’ mode, will debut January 17

It’s almost time for the 2024 Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray to be revealed! Chevy just released its first teaser for the hybrid Corvette, allowing us a few glimpses of the exterior styling and revealing that it’ll feature a new “Stealth” mode. The official reveal date is set for January 17, which is one week from today.

The exterior shots do a decent job of confirming what we already knew about the changes from the configurator leak last month. Body-colored panels replace some of the regular C8’s contrast-painted bits, and we get a super-quick partial view of the E-Ray badge on the side of the car.

What’s most interesting in this teaser (above), though, is the presence of a “Stealth” mode. In Chevy’s video, the mode switcher is being used to swap between “Normal” and “Stealth” startup modes. This suggests that you’ll be able to put the E-Ray into a friendly neighbor mode of sorts to start the car up and leave the neighborhood in the morning. We don’t expect the E-Ray to be a plug-in hybrid with any extensive electric range, but like a typical hybrid, there should be enough battery power to back out of the driveway and get far enough away from the windows of your sleeping neighbor before the V8 is required to fire up.

Footage of the E-Ray driving around the city making a whirring electric sound suggests you may be able to put it into Stealth mode for brief periods of time when you want to drive on electric power, too. If it’s anything like the hybrid Acura NSX, this electric motoring will be a brief and neat party trick for the hybrid Corvette.

The last few bits of info we picked up from the video is the presence of what looks like a regenerative braking mode button on the interior, carbon ceramic brakes, and of course, snow. The E-Ray is confirmed to have all-wheel drive, which will make it the first production Corvette to send power to all four wheels. We’ll learn everything there is to know about the E-Ray in a week’s time, so buckle up for January 17.

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January 10, 2023 / Comments Off

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McMurtry Speirling blitzes the (metric) quarter-mile in 7.97 seconds

In August, the McMurtry Automotive Spéirling set a new overall record up the 1.16-mile hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed with a time of 39.14 seconds. McMurtry took that Goodwood car in its Goodwood spec to one of Carwow’s open-air studios, this one at the Millbrook Proving Ground, so the YouTube channel could climb all over the single-seater and run its trademark acceleration tests. The Millbrook runs yielded a 0-60 run of 2.09 seconds and a standing quarter-mile time of 8.64 seconds using an independent GPS measurement device. But the strip was wet, leaving presenter Mat Watson unsatisfied. To get his satisfaction, Carwow transported the Speirling to the Silverstone circuit, hiring the track and a jet-powered dryer truck to lay a grippy line down the Hangar Straight. Those finer conditions allowed the Speirling, in the video above, to blitz the 0-60 in 1.4 seconds and the quarter-mile in 7.97 seconds.

Those are both record times for Carwow, displacing the Rimac Nevera from first place. Watson previously ran the Croatian battery-electric hypercar to 60 miles per hour in 1.9 seconds and the quarter in 8.6 seconds. The Pininfarina Battista claimed the production-car record for 0-60 acceleration at 1.79 seconds.

There’s a few hundredths worth of gray area in the comparison for now. The Nevera is a production car, the Speirling most definitely is not. McMurtry is developing a road-legal production version that’s likely a couple of years away. Watson set his Speirling times with the fan car’s custom slick tires, the rear pushers being 240-section. So far as we can tell, the all-wheel drive Nevera travels the world setting times on its production tires, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, 275-section in front, 315-section in back.

The Speirling’s waiting to spring a big surprise, though, since its Goodwood gearing limits top speed to 150 mph. Watson said the Speirling sat at 150 mph for “approximately three seconds” of that blazing quarter-mile time. Fyi, the English quarter-mile is 400 meters, or 1,312.3 feet compared to our 1,320-foot quarter-mile. At 150 mph, it would take the Speirling about another 0.04 second to do the U.S.A. drag. Drag Times ran the Nevera to an 8.582 quarter on a prepped track in the U.S. in August.

Although we wouldn’t expect a different finishing order than Carwow established, getting the street-legal Speirling and a Nevera on the same track on the same day on production tires would tell us how close the two cars are.

Before the runs, Watson gets instruction in the Speirling’s methods from chief engineer Kevin Ukoko-Rongione and company test driver Max Chilton. For instance, two fans provide the roughly 4,400 pounds of downforce, but it’s a redundant system; Ukoko-Rongione said that although both fans runs together, a single fan can provide most of the car’s downforce. It’s worth watching the buildup because this is a fascinating car.

December 27, 2022 / Comments Off

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2023 McLaren Artura recalled for fuel leak-related fire risk

McLaren has issued a recall that applies to more than 150 units of the Artura, its new hybrid supercar. The vehicles included in the campaign are fitted with high-pressure fuel lines that can loosen, leak, and ultimately cause a fire because they’re not secured with the right hardware.

Assigned recall number 22V-908 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the campaign includes 164 examples of the Artura built from October 8, 2021, to November 14, 2022. Affected VINs range from SBM16AEA3PW000177 to SBM16AEA1PW000372.

McLaren explained that the recalled cars were built with high-pressure fuel lines held on by cold-formed nuts; the examples that are not part of the recall were manufactured with fully-machined nuts. It added that cold-formed nuts can loosen from the fuel pump over time, especially “during dynamic driving maneuvers commonly associated with track running.” In turn, this can create a fuel leak which increases the risk of a fire. McLaren noted that two cars developed a fuel leak on a track but adds that there are no injuries or accidents related to the defect.

Owners of affected cars will need to take their Artura to the nearest McLaren dealership to get the fuel pipes replaced free of charge. As for the root of the problem, the British company stated it switched to cold-formed nuts in March 2021 due to a shortage of fully-machined parts.

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December 23, 2022 / Comments Off

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Bertone GB110 opens a new chapter in the coachbuilder’s history

Bertone, one of the oldest and most respected Italian coachbuilders, wants a seat at the automaker table. The company followed arch rival Pininfarina into the supercar segment with a head-turning limited-edition coupe called GB110 that’s powered by a 1,100-horsepower engine.

Computer-generated images released by Bertone depict a wedge-shaped car that’s wide, low, and fairly pure in terms of design; it doesn’t look like a race car made just street-legal enough to wear license plates. Giovanni Sapio, the GB110’s project manager, points out that the overall design draws inspiration from past Bertone-penned concepts like the 1970 Lancia Stratos Zero and the 1968 Alfa Romeo Carabo.

Interior images haven’t been released yet. Similarly, technical details are few and far between. Bertone merely notes that the GB110’s chassis “is based on components from a German manufacturer” and that its mysterious engine develops about 1,100 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque. It spins the four wheels via a seven-speed automatic transmission. While we’re not going to fan the speculation flames, we should point out that the only German supercar with a mid-mounted engine, a seven-speed automatic, and all-wheel-drive is the Audi R8.

Regardless of what it’s powered by or based on, the GB110 is intriguingly configured to burn what Bertone refers to as “fuel made from plastic waste.” It joined forces with Select Fuel, which has reportedly developed and patented a technology capable of converting polycarbonate materials into renewable fuel. Feeding the engine what pretty much sounds like an alchemized and liquefied blend of plastic trash sends the coupe from zero to 62 mph in 2.79 seconds, from zero to 124 mph in 6.79 seconds, and on to a top speed of over 236 mph.

Bertone plans to make 33 units of the GB110 available globally. Pricing information hasn’t been announced, but it seems like the company already has big plans for the future. It announced that the new coupe is the first model in an upcoming series of limited-edition vehicles.

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December 21, 2022 / Comments Off

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De Tomaso P900 uses synthetic fuel to spin past 12,000 rpm

It’s not a trendy electric hyper car. The Italian-built De Tomaso P900 is another kind of anomaly in the automotive upper strata where it lives: The P900 is propelled by a V12 engine that runs solely on synthetic fuel, all the way to 12,300 rpm.

Priced at about $3 million and limited to a production run of only 18 examples, the carbon-bodied P900 weights just less that 2,000 pounds. Its 6.2-liter powerplant accounts for about a quarter of that weight.

Although De Tomaso is hedging the full specs on the car except to customers who have ordered one, the engine is expected to generate about 900 horsepower; it’s still in development until 2024, although the model is set to be revealed officially in the spring.

For customers clamoring to show off their P900s, it will be available prior to 2024 using De Tomaso’s F1-derived V10 engine. The design of the two-seater is pure science fiction, adapted from the De Tomaso P72, which used a carbon fiber monocoque chassis constructed to LMP1 standards and a 5.0-liter supercharged Ford Coyote V8.

“As a passionate automotive enthusiast, it is difficult for me to accept a silent EV-driven future,” said Norman Choi, De Tomaso CEO, in a statement. “We believe that alternatives do exist, and the development of our new platform, driven by synthetic fuels, is our solution for keeping this shared passion for the theatre of combustion engines alive.”

In pursuit of zero-emissions mobility, Choi says this new venture doesn’t envision a future that sacrifices “the crucial element which we all hold so dear — the soul and symphony of an engine.”

November 30, 2022 / Comments Off

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Corvette-based Chevrolet with ‘incredible performance’ coming in 2025

GM President Mark Reuss’ Investor Day presentation has been a font of information. Most of it’s been pretty straightforward, like the info about GM service centers working on Teslas and the GMC Acadia getting larger for its third generation. This one lives at the mysterious end of the foreshadowing pool. When discussing what’s in store for the Corvette, Reuss mentioned two vehicles. As reported by Fox News, the first is a straight-up Corvette trim, “the next version of the C8,” the “next-step in performance for Chevrolet” supposedly so good “you won’t be able to imagine it from a performance standpoint.” Since Reuss’ was reportedly talking about new vehicles due in 2024, he wouldn’t have been referring to the hybrid, all-wheel drive Corvette coming in 2023. The AWD hybrid could have been the trim referred to as the Corvette Grand Sport in a potentially leaked GM document from 2020. The powertrain in that coupe will be the 6.2-liter LT2 V8 from the base Stingray combined with electric motors driving the front axle to make somewhere around a combined 600 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque.

The images in Reuss’ presentation were obscured for media viewers, but we suspect he meant the ZR1. That supposed leaked doc said its due in 2024 with 850 hp and 825 lb-ft. Output will come from an LT7 engine that’s already on the testing bench if a recent clue found at the National Corvette Museum can be believed.

What will follow that is a car Reuss called an “incredible performance car” that he expects to “put the world on notice” as to what GM is capable of and “set the standard of the world for performance for Chevrolet.” Based on the trim cadence we’ve been covering for years, this sounds like the Corvette rumored to be called the Zora, which would pair the twin-turbo LT7 V8 with electric motors for more than 1,000 hp. However, Reuss didn’t call this car a Corvette; he only said it would be based on the C8 architecture. Back to that 2020 GM document, it had the ZR1 coming in 2025. That’s a year later than this mystery offering, and we can’t imagine why Reuss wouldn’t call a Corvette a Corvette.

In a LinkedIn post from April that provided video of next years AWD Corvette, Reuss wrote, “we will offer an electrified and a fully electric, Ultium-based Corvette in the future.” On that note, the only unaccounted for Corvette family vehicles we’re aware of in the rumor pipeline are the electric Corvette-inspired crossover as part of Project R, and the electric Corvette sedan said to be coming mid-decade. So stay tuned, big electric things are coming from Chevrolet.

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November 28, 2022 / Comments Off

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Pininfarina Battista hypercar’s output specified at 1,873 horsepower

Even in a galaxy far, far away, the Pininfarina Battista would stand out.

After a delay of about three years, the official specifications of the all-electric hypercar have been revealed:

Full power is rated at 1,873 horsepower, outputting 1,697 foot-pounds of torque.
Sixty-two miles per hour arrives in 1.86 seconds, with 124 mph coming in 4.75 seconds.
217 mph is the estimated top speed. (The Rimac Nevera recently hit 258.)
The 120kWh battery pack should enable a range of about 280 miles from a single charge.

A pair of electric motors are mounted to each axle, each motor powering a specific wheel and giving the Battista full torque vectoring capability.

Pricing — and this is one of those cars that, if one has to ask, just move on — is about $2.2 million, which places it in the territory of the Bugatti Chiron. For those customers considering an upsell, a limited “anniversario” edition will comprise five of the expected 150-unit build run. It differs from the standard version by some cosmetic alterations, which lifts the price by some $70,000-plus. 0r you could buy a BMW M3 as a chase car.

The two-seater Battista is named for Battista “Pinin” Farina, who founded Carrozzeria Pininfarina in 1930. A lot of its battery, carbon-fiber chassis and motor components come from Rimac, the nascent Croatian electric supercar maker that recently paired with Porsche to take over Bugatti.

Many more details about the car’s development, several photos and our driving impressions can be found in this Autoblog post from August.

November 24, 2022 / Comments Off

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