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Electric
Here are nine really very fast electric sports cars
For when money’s no object and the sky’s the limit on zero-emission performance
Rimac Nevera
You’ll likely be familiar with Croatian entrepreneur Mate Rimac by now, if only because of his electric sports car company Rimac Automobili. And if you are, you’ll likely also be familiar with his Rimac Nevera hypercar, the name for which comes from the Croatian word for an electrically charged storm, nevera, which has been known to batter coastlines at speeds of up to 155mph. Breezy.
But the road-going Nevera can top even that: courtesy of a 120kWh battery, four electric motors, 1,914bhp and 1,740lb ft of torque, it’s capable of 0-60mph in 1.85 seconds, 100mph in 4.3s, and 186mph in 9.3s, on to a 258mph top speed. Less a storm, more a hurricane, then…
Advertisement - Page continues belowPininfarina Battista
“The Pininfarina Battista is a triumph for what it set out to achieve. It’s beautiful, and so violently fast you will never get used to it,” we we headed to Miami for a little drive.
Under the Italian-sketched skin you’ll find the same electric gubbins as in the Nevera (the Croatian company supplies them), similar mind-blowing performance, and a limited run of just 150 units – plus a price tag of around £2 million apiece. But be honest, you weren’t expecting zero-emission performance to come cheap, were you?
Maserati GranTurismo Folgore
Welcome to Maser's first ever pure EV. It's got plenty of history when it comes to GTs, of course, and the Folgore – which roughly translates as lightning or thunderbolt – promises much, including a 0-62mph time of 2.7 seconds, 750bhp from its tri-motor setup, and up to 280 miles from its 83kWh battery.
“This is a car that has real cachet, that feels, acts and drives expensively and comes across as better engineered and developed than any Maserati in living memory,” we said. Maserati’s electric future looks very promising indeed.
Advertisement - Page continues belowMG Cyberster
The only two-seat electric sports car in mass production, the MG Cyberster more than looks the part too with its classic roadster design, scissor doors and four cockpit screens.
Two versions are available, the single motor, rear driven Cyberster Trophy (335bhp/350lb ft, 0-62mph in 5.0secs, 316 miles of range), and the dual motor, all-wheel drive Cyberster GT (496bhp/535lb ft, 0-62mph in 3.2secs, 276 miles of range). Prices start at £55,245 for the Trophy, or £60,245 for the GT.
We've recently spent over half a year daily driving one to discover whether it lives up to the hype, which you can read all about by clicking these blue words.
Lotus Evija
Lotus is amid its latest grand revival, spearheaded by both its combustion-engined Emira, and this: the electric-only Evija. Costing a heady £2.4m, it offers 2,011bhp and 1,257lb ft from four electric motors, 0-62mph in well under three seconds, 0-124mph in six seconds, 0-186mph in 9.2 seconds, and a 217mph vmax.
“It’s mesmerising to look at, fast as hell, and handles spectacularly. We can only salute the team behind it who have done a great job nursing it into production,” we said. A team who have spent just six, yes six years getting it to market. Just 130 are set to be built.
Yangwang U9
Yangwang is the luxury performance bit of BYD, with the U9 its all-electric sportscar making a name for itself for all the right reasons. But more on that in a bit.
Already available in its homeland, the regular U9 gets proper sports car looks, 1,288bhp and 1,240lb ft from a quartet of electric motors, plus a party bag of tricks including the ability to bunny hop into the air. It’s expected to cost around £200k when it arrives on our shores.
But there’s more, because earlier this year the Yangwang U9 Xtreme recorded 308.4mph – becoming the fastest road legal car on the planet in the process.
Essentially a track (but road legal) version of the regular car, it gets 2,978bhp, a 1,200V ultra high voltage platform – up from the existing U9’s 800V system – and tweaked aerodynamics. Just 30 are being made globally.
Longbow Speedster
You might not have heard of Longbow before, but you surely will within the next year or two. That’s because the British startup is launching not one but two sub-tonne all electric sports cars - and you can reserve both today.
First up is the Speedster, a windscreen-less, roof-less, engine-less sports car that weighs in at just 895kg – astonishingly low for an electric car – thanks to its aluminium structure and composite body panels. Might want to bring a helmet, mind.
Longbow says it’ll do 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds and up to 275 miles. The catch? Just 150 will be built, costing from £84,995. A lot of money for a car that you can probably only use 10 days a year in Blighty.
Advertisement - Page continues belowLongbow Roadster
For the less hardcore amongst us there's also the Roadster, which gets a fixed roof making it more usable day to day, and isn't limited in number.
Said roof comes with a 100kg weight penalty, but we’re told it'll still be capable of 0-62mph in 3.6 seconds and up to 280 miles of range. Initially it'll be available in 322bhp single motor guise only, with the possibility for a dual motor version in the future.
Oh, and the best news of all is that it gets an appealing £64,995 pricetag – Alpine A110 territory. Consider us intrigued.
Nio EP9
The Nio EP9 made headlines back in 2017, when it smashed the Nürburgring lap record with a time of 6mins 45.9secs in the hands of former Le Mans and DTM racer Peter Dumbreck, a record that would last… two months. Still a mighty achievement nonetheless.
And more track records would follow, thanks to one whole megawatt of power, which translates into an astonishing 1,341bhp, enabling 0-124mph in 7.1 seconds – quicker than a Mazda MX-5 will complete 0-62mph – onto a vmax of 195mph.
A total of 16 were built, all of which were sold in China, so chances of getting your hands on one are... slim. But stranger things have happened, and we've seen rarer metal cross the auction block...
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