The Rise of electric cars and the advancements in technology needed to make EVs so popular have resulted in multiple success stories that make us think that perhaps building an EV from the ground up is not all that difficult. When that argument comes up companies like Tesla and Rivian come to mind. However, we have also seen several monumental failures, such as Faraday and Fisker, that remind us just how cut-throat the automotive industry can be.

Welcome the Drako Dragon

Drako Motors, a Silicon Valley startup, has just announced the Dragon, an all-electric SUV with 2,000 horsepower. The Dragon will also have the DriveOS Quad Motor Powertrain which consists of Drako's own battery pack juicing four electric motors which deliver the monstrous power to the ground.

All that power results in a quarter mile time of 9 seconds, a top speed of over 200 miles per hour, and a 0-60 mph time of 1.9 seconds. The latter of which is on par with the Tesla Model S Plaid. Those figures are presumably the reason for Drako calling the Dragon "an entirely new kind of hypercar." Those are impressive figures when you consider the Dragon is a five-seater SUV, but not that mind-blowing compared to the fastest EVs out there.

Being fast in a straight line is one thing, but Drako seems confident about the Dragon's capabilities in the twisties as they are implementing a system that will control each individual wheel's torque. The company also said there will also be a "three-stage suspension to conquer both roads and trails," however, they did not provide specific details about this somehow-special suspension setup.

How did Drako Motors start in the first place?

In 2019 Drako Motors announced their first car, the GTE. It was a 1,200-horsepower electric grand tourer that is based on the Karma Revero, which is based on the original Fisker Karma that launched way back in 2012.

Obviously, the world of EVs has massively changed since 2019, let alone 2012. So, over the last three years, Drako realized that not many people have bought the GTE and went back to the drawing board.

The Dragon's looks and Price

In terms of the appearance we only have these teaser images, but there seems to be some inspiration taken from the old GTE. We can see gullwing doors, flying buttresses, and a series of diagonal LEDs that make up the head and taillights. The final product should be quite attractive as it was designed by Lowie Vermeersch, who designed the GTE and is a former design director at Pininfarina.

The Dragon will also have pricing much more competitive price relative to the GTE, which retailed for $1.3 million. Expect the Dragon to be priced around $200,000-$250,000 to compete with the Lamborghini Urus, Aston Martin DBX, Bentley Bentayga, and Ferrari Purosangue.

Hopefully, we do not see a repeat of the numerous other EV startups that had ambitious plans but ultimately fell flat on their face.