SSC does make an incredible car with the Ultimate Aero. It has the production car record for the world’s fastest car, its twin turbo V8 producing a massive 1,183bhp and nearly 1100ft/lbs of torque. It does 0-60 mph in 2.87 seconds, and on to a top speed of 257.4 mph. Quite incredible. It’s not the technical tour de force that the Bugatti Veyron is, but it succeeds in bringing mind-boggling performance at a third of the price of the VW supercar.
But car makers of this type are seeing the world change in a way that will possibly affect them more than most. It’s not just that car buyers are looking for more economical cars (frankly, there are always going to be a lot of people whose main concern is performance, not economy) but the problem lies with the perception of their cars. They are perceived as planet killing and ostentatious. There is a distinct possibility, if opinions continue to harden as the economy degenerates, that even those who can afford and justify a supercar will decide that the hostility to their purchase will outweigh the joy. So SSC has been looking hard, and have come up with a solution, which on the face of it is hard to believe.
At first glance the concept of a high performance electric supercar is enticing. All that performance and green credentials to keep Joe-Public happy. And it makes a lot of sense, even if the arguments for electric cars are fundamentally flawed (but car makers have to deal with perceptions, not what the reality is). But SSC have issued a press release that seems to encompass the wish list of the supercar buyer, but which seems to be so far away from what is possible with current technology as to be unbelievable.
The SSC PR says they have developed a new EV platform, known as All Electric Scalable Platform (AESP), which promises the earth. They say it will produce 1000bhp through twin electric motors (which, as electric motors are linear, means it will probably have enough torque to move the planet!), which translates in to a 0-60 time of 2.5 seconds and a top speed of over 200mph. They claim a range of up to 200 miles, from a 10 minute charge from a wall socket using their ‘Charge-on-the-Run’ onboard technology. The whole onboard power plant and motors are liquid cooled, allowing the motors to perform at maximum for extended periods of time.
SSC intends to roll out the first prototype of the SSC Ultimate Aero EV in the second quarter of this year, and apparantly we can expect to see the SSC Ultimate Aero EV for sale by the end of 2009.
I do hope that SSC have got their technology sums right. On the face of it what they are offering seems technically impossible. A ten minute charge from a wall socket? Yes, maybe, but surely not if its charging a battery pack powerful enough to produce the sort of performance SSC is claiming. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
