One of the biggest problems with hybrid and electric cars is that they require high voltage, but nanoFlowcell has developed technology that allows low-voltage electric drive without the need for massive supercapacitors in a standalone system. This latest development is set to be showcased in the model you see here: the Quant 48Volt.

The car itself looks painfully similar to the 2014 Quant e-Sportlimousine with a 2+2 seating configuration, but what’s more important is the electric drive system that uses a lower voltage to deliver 560kW (750 horsepower) to all four wheels in a light, safe, and environmentally compatible vehicle.

This kind of power delivery from a low-voltage system is made possible by the brand’s ability to increase the size of the flow cell’s membrane surface, which multiplied the reaction surface of the cell without bringing on an increase in size.

With the ability to deliver so much power from such a low-voltage system, nanoFlowcell is boasting the increased safety inherent to the design. The way the system is structured, the poles of the flow cell can be touched without any risk – ultimately meaning that road users and first responders don’t have the risk of being shocked by high voltage in the event of a serious accident on the road. On top of that, the electrolyte liquids used for the flowcell aren’t flammable or explosive – something that can’t be said about the common lithium ion batteries that electric and hybrid cars on the road are using today.

This newest development and nonoFlowcell’s newest concept car is set to make its debut at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, so let’s dive on in a take a quick look at what’s going on here.

Continue reading to learn more about the Quant 48Volt.

2018 Quant 48Volt

Specifications
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  • Model: 2018 Quant 48Volt
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Pros
Cons

Exterior

At a glance, it seems like we’ve seen this design before, but the car itself is unique in its own way. Up front, that low and strategically designed nose provides an aerodynamic prowess that screams performance. The sleek headlights in the corners, the large and recessed corner vents, and the little lip below the air dam are all, somehow, aesthetically pleasing on the eyes. Then you’ve got those sculpted front fenders that aren’t quite muscular but give the car a sense of aggressiveness. Just like the trim element on the roof and along the bottom side of the door, the trim elements in the corner vents take on the same color.

Moving over to the sides, the rear sitting greenhouse, large door, and fastback-like slant to the rear profile all provide a dominating and intriguing design. The rear haunches aren’t as pronounced as the arches on the front fender but provide a somewhat muscular appearance. The recessed nature of the doors compared to the lower portion of the body present a futuristic look that has just a hint of elegance and should provide some downforce – a necessity for the 750 ponies of electric goodness lurking beyond the body.

Walk around to the rear of the 48Volt, and you’ll find a design that is much more aggressive than any other part of the car. First, that copper/bronze colored element on the rough dips down in the middle to follow the central contour of the roof and the rear glass. The rear glass itself helps to give the rear end a supercar-like appearance, while the thin, LED taillights give the car a futuristic look.

The sharp lines and contours of the insert above the rear fascia provide a lot of character while the lower insert is situated in a way that allows the fascia to come to a sharp point on each side, with the only thing connect the left and right being a small strip that runs between the two inserts.

Down below, that lower insert takes the form of a massive diffuser with a single vertical slat right in the middle that is flanked by a pair of bronze inserts that are similar to the front corner vents but more rectangular. Horizontal slats are built into the center of the inserts. The lower portion of that diffuser is primarily smooth but is angled just right to allow airflow from under the car to disperse in an upward direction.

All told, the exterior design is bold, sexy, and pleasing from every angle. It’s not something that you’ll be able to afford earning a median salary, but this car gives us a quick glance into the future of sporty, electrifying design that is quite literally on the horizon as the automotive world continues to transition into a whole new realm of design.

Interior

The only look we’ve gotten at the interior of the 48Volt is from a side view of the exterior with the gullwing doors wide open. It does reveal the 2+2 design but also presents a pair of sport front seats with lots of side support on the seat back and seat cushion. Meanwhile, the rear seats appear to take on the same exact form, but may not be quite as supportive. The seats are two-tone in nature and are primarily black with a shade of brownish gray encompassing the outer edges and various strips in the center of the seat. The seats are nearly identical to those seen in the Quant FE and could very well be the same exact seats.

NanoFlowcell Quant F Gullwing Electric Sports Coupe interior pictured here.

As far as the rest of the interior, it’s hard to say with 100-percent certainty what is going on, but considering the car is pretty similar to all of the other nonoFlowcell concepts I’m willing to bet that we’ll see a similar interior as well. This means the main portion of the dash will likely wraparound and blend in with the curvature of the doors, while also circling inward and shooting straight back to create a center console of sorts. This also creates an individual bubble for each of the four seats, providing each passenger with their own space. On the other concepts, the dash, main door trim, and center console were all made from high-quality wood, so that will likely carry over as well.

Mounted to the top of the hash will sit a massive is the centerpiece of the whole interior – a large, wide digital display screen that serves as an instrument cluster, navigation, and vehicle information display, and infotainment system. Pertinent information like speed, range, charge level, etc. is presented to the drive ahead of the flat-bottom, flat-topped steering wheel. In the center sits the display that provides most of the information about the car itself, while the right side is reserved for various tasks like choosing music – something that’s perfect for that co-pilot on long road trips.

Drivetrain

While the interior and exterior of the Quant 48Volt are undoubtedly similar to that of the cars that came before it, the inner workings of the drivetrain is what really sets it apart. All of the other models thus far have had high-voltage systems. The Quant FE, for example, make use of nanoFlowcell technology, but ran on 500 to 700 volts, peaking at 735 volts. The capacity of that model was 70 kWh, with supercaps buffer system that maxes at 2,000 amps. Power delivered computes to 790 horsepower and an astonishing 2,138 pound-feet of torque. That’s enough for a 2.8-second sprint to 62 mph and a top speed of 186 mph. Jump into the future and look at the few specs we have for the Quant 48Volt, and the difference is as clear as the morning sun without a cloud in the sky.

As opposed to a 700-volt system, this baby – as its name suggests – runs on just 48 volts – a relatively low and safe voltage. And, it’s able to deliver “extreme” performance through four electric motors to the tune of 560 kW or 750 horsepower – just 40 horsepower less than the Quant FE and its 700-volt system. Astonishing. Those four motors are 45-phase low-voltage units that are each good for 140 kW of power. There’s no word on torque output at this time, but according to nanoFlowcell we’re talking about the sprint to 62 mph coming in as fast as 2.4 seconds with top speed limited to 186 mph. Meanwhile, its stated range is 1,000 km or 621 miles. Ultimately, it’s said to be the lightest, safest, and environmentally sound powertrain system for electric vehicles.

So to put all of this into a few words, the 48Volt is lighter, safer, and offers more range than the high-voltage cars that came before it. And, on top of that, the advancement this car represents means that build production models will be significantly cheaper than it would have been if based on the high-voltage systems used to this point and repair technicians won’t need that high-voltage specialist training. That computes to cheaper upkeep and maintenance in the long run. Well done nanoFlowcell.

Conclusion

So, will this be the car that makes it into production and rewrites everything we know about electric production cars? Obviously, a model like this would be priced well above that of a Nissan Leaf or even a Tesla Model 3, but the technology behind it can surely be adapted to smaller, more affordable cars and with 600+ plus miles worth of range, it’s not likely that range anxiety would be an issue either. Regarding design style, luxury, and technology, the Quant 48Volt is on point, and it would be very interesting to see what the toned down production model will actually look like. But, before that happens, this baby needs to make its debut at the Geneva Auto Show, where we may learn even more about it. What do you think about it so far? Let us know in the comments section below.