X

Shelby announces world's fastest electric car

Shelby SuperCars gives details of an electric powertrain it is developing for its Ultimate Aero supercar.

Wayne Cunningham Managing Editor / Roadshow
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
See full bio
Wayne Cunningham

Shelby is working on an electric version of the 2009 Ultimate Aero supercar. Shelby SuperCars

In conjunction with the release of its 2009 Ultimate Aero at the Abu Dhabi International Motor Show, Shelby SuperCars announced details of an electric version of this same car, due to be launched in the second half of this year. We hope the oil barons of Abu Dhabi took the news graciously, as Shelby's move seems kind of like walking into a convention of cigarette makers and announcing a cure for tobacco addiction. But maybe they merely smiled at the fairly outlandish-sounding claims by Shelby SuperCars.

Ultimate Aero engine
The Ulimate Aero EV won't need one of these. Shelby SuperCars

According to Shelby, the powertrain developed for the Ultimate Aero EV uses a lithium ion battery pack, which can be fully charged from a 110 volt AC outlet in 10 minutes. This powertrain can be scaled from 200 up to 500 horsepower, with a special, dual-motor configuration that could produce 1,200 horsepower.

On top of that, Shelby claims a 200 mile range. If this powertrain can truly meet these specifications, Shelby will revolutionalize electric cars. Fortunately, we only have to wait about 10 months to see if it happens.

The details of this powertrain follow an announcement in July of last year that Shelby was working on turning the Ultimate Aero into an electric car. In that previous announcement, Shelby said its electric powertrain "will feature a revolutionary power source allowing for extended time between charging intervals with the possibility of several years between charging."

(Source: Jalopnik)