In 2010, a Yokohama EV Sports Vehicle HER-02 set a record for the fastest electric vehicle to complete the iconic 12.42-mile-long Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. The vehicle obtained an impressive time of 13:17.575 with Ikuo Hanawa behind the wheel. That mark shattered the previous Pikes Peak EV record, set by Jeri Unser in 2003, by 65 seconds.
Last year, the same vehicle finished fifth in its class and for this year Yokohama will make another try.
The HER-02 is powered by an electric motor that delivers a total of 255 horsepower and takes its power from a 37 kWh Sanyo battery pack. All of the motor’s 255 ponies are sent to the rear wheels. The electric vehicle weighs only 2,535 pounds and, thanks to its two spoilers, it delivers a surprising amount of downforce to help it stay glued to the road in twists.
Click past the jump to read more about HER-02’s competitors at Pikes Peak.
Dimitris Korres may not be a famous name in the auto industry these days, but give it some time and he just might be more than that. The Greek architect and inventor is about ready to showcase his first venture into the auto industry.
The Korres Project 4.
If you’re wondering what that is, the Project 4 is a supercar and a pretty impressive one at that.
The full details about the Project 4 will be unveiled soon in Greece, but there’s already a steady amount of information that’s been disclosed to the public. Chief among them is the powertrain, which takes the form of a 7.0-liter naturally aspirated engine that produces an impressive 505 horsepower, allowing it to hit 100 km/h (62 mph) in just 3.8 seconds with a top speed of 186 mph.
Translated in any language, those numbers are impressive across the board.
Another important bit of information about the Project 4 is its dimensions.
It’s 3,920 mm (154.3 inches) long, 1,960 mm (77.2 inches) wide, and 1,250 mm (49.2 inches) tall with a wheelbase of 2,560 mm (100.8 inches). Taken all together, the Project 4 weighs 1,600 kg (3,527 pounds).
Be sure to check back here in the coming days. We’ll have the full details of the Korres Project 4 as soon as it makes its public debut.
Click past the jump to read about a similarly new sports car that could see (limited) production soon, the Project SST-77.
As a project of Neal Bailey’s BXR Motors, the Bailey Blade XTR has been in the oven for quite some time now. But the project car has yet to progress into an actual production car because, well, there wasn’t enough money to do so.
But now, the money has been injected into the project and, thanks to a teaser video released by BXR Motors, the Bailey Blade XTR is mere months away from making its official debut at the 2013 SEMA Auto Show.
It’s definitely a long time coming, especially since it has made various media rounds in the past but never got the opportunity to actually get up and running.
Needless to say, we’re all excited to see what BXR Motors has in store for all of us when the Bailey Blade XTR finally makes its debut at SEMA later this year.
Click past the jump to read more about the 2014 Bailey Blade XTR.
Niche French automaker, PGO, first introduced the Cevennes Water Snake Concept at the Shanghai Motor Show.
While it offered little in the way of details at that time, it has finally given us new details and photos of the exclusive sports roadster. And what it shows us is a car that looks more like it is ready to tackle the streets of the globe rather than sit in a design studio as a “concept.”
For what it’s worth, the company has indeed come a long way since it returned in 2005 after Al Sayer International acquired the fledgling coachbuilder. The company was actually born in the 1980s and started off by building replicas of classic European sports cars, namely Porsches.
But with the financial backing provided by Al Sayer International, PGO has evolved into having multiple models to its name, including the Cevennes Water Snake Concept.
Click past the jump to read about the PGO Cevennes Water Snake Concept
Bristol Cars is a British-based company founded in 1945 that specializes in developing hand-built luxury cars. The company produces only 20 units per year, but even so, it manages to maintain loyal clientele.
One of the most famous cars developed by Bristol was the Fighter - a sports car that can hit a top speed of about 200 mph. Along with that beast, the company has developed lots of other models and all of them used either BMW or Chrysler engines to power them.
Now Bristol wants to hit that 200 mph mark one more time, but this time in a new extended-range electric GT supercar. The model is still in its development process and will be shown in concept form at the end of this year.
It will use the same design language we saw on the 2009 Giugiaro-styled Namir supercar concept and will be offered with technology developed by Surrey-based technology group Frazer-Nash Research.
Note: pictures shown here are of the Giugiaro Namir Concept, not the Bristol GT.
Click past the jump to read more about the future Bristol GT.
