With electrification gaining a strong foothold in the car industry, we’re bound to see an increase in the number of supercars that harness the power generated by a battery pack and a pair of e-motors.

Drako’s GTE ups the ante with a quad-motor setup and the complete lack of differentials. Instead, the supercar uses a smart algorithm that sends just the right amount of torque and power to each wheel, for what Drako calls the ultimate driving experience. Let’s see what that means, shall we?

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Exterior

There’s no doubt at this point that the Drako GTE is one good looking automobile. From a visual standpoint, It seems equally apt at turning heads on the street and working towards max performance on the race track. The front end is particularly aggressive thanks to a gaping, mesh-trimmed front grille flanked by two, similarly crafted elements. The carbon-fiber hood is muscular and sports luscious, humpy flanks that are continued to the sides and the on in the rear, in the form of well-sculpted hips. Someone’s been doing their squats, we guess. Look closer and you’ll spot three air intakes in the front, as well as the slim, almost boomerang-shaped headlights. Behind them and under the hood, Drako positioned the inverters and the cooling systems.

As with every supercar out there, the body must serve the aesthetic purpose as well as the functional one. This is, perhaps, best visible at the rear, where Drako went for the ‘Coda Tronca’ design, also known as Kamm Tail or K-Tail. It implies that the rear of the car slopes downwards before suddenly cutting off with a vertical surface; this way, the car benefits from low drag but can still retain some practicality. The Ferrari 250 GTO had such a design, and so did the Ford GT40, Aston Martin DB6, Ferrari Dino, and, believe it or not, the Toyota Prius employs this solution too. Coupled with the low splitter in the front, the big rear diffuser eliminates the need for a large rear wing - as you most likely know, the diffuser essentially speeds up the air flow in front of it, reducing pressure and generating downforce in the process.

Interior

But what does that mean exactly? Well, we’re not given any figures to back up claims such as “ample legroom” or “easy ingress and egress” but we can tell you that those sleek-looking front seats combine a mix of hand-stitched leather and Alcantara and, in all fairness, they do look able to provide both high levels of comfort and the needed support during those sporty driving sessions.

The steering wheel is devoid of buttons but it does receive its fair share of carbon-fiber trim, and the dashboard isn’t necessarily something to write home about either. The driver does get a digital instrument cluster and there are two air vents mounted on top of the center console, beneath them there’s a multimedia screen (it also controls the a/c setup, among others), and below that, on the median tunnel, sits a carbon fiber-clad control panel of sorts populated with twist dials. These allow the driver to fiddle with the front/rear power and torque distribution ratio, regen braking, torque vectoring, as well as the driving modes we shall detail in the Drivetrain section.

Drivetrain

The Drako GTE might be Drako Motors’ first-ever car, but it’s been hailed as a limited-production electric supercar from day one. Although the initial press release stated that the GTE is based on a Fisker-supplied chassis, the air has been cleared as a Fisker representative came out to deny that. Needless to say, the specs announced by Drako Motors for the GTE are otherworldly. Top speed is 206 miles per hour and each wheel is connected to a motor via separate direct-drive gearboxes. A 90-kWh, floor-mounted battery pack feeds the quad-motor setup and also allows for a low center of gravity.

Drako GTE Performance Specifications

Having one e-motor assigned to each wheel translates into extremely precise torque control on a given wheel, so the setup can instantly adapt to the levels of grip it gets from the surface it travels on. What’s more, Drako says the GTE’s torque vectoring algorithms have been forged in the Nurburgring fire and address the likes of straight-line acceleration and “unrivaled turning capability and incredible safety on any kind of road surface.” There’s no word on a 0-60 mph sprint time, but we expect the Drako GTE to pull off sub-2-second runs given the generous resources it has at its disposal, and the trumpeted ability to put them to good use in an efficient manner.

Speaking of putting the power down with performance in mind, Drako Motors explains that since the GTE ditches the traditional differentials in favor of a super-sophisticated software that handles torque deployment, it offers superior performance in demanding situations, aka on the race track. The way this fancy system works is by applying positive torque to the wheels on the outside of the turn, while simultaneously sending negative torque to the wheels on the inside of the turn. These minor adjustments can be made with a frequency of up to 1,000 times per second, according to Drako. In addition, the driver can select one of the six drivetrain modes tailored for use in various weather and road conditions: Ice, Snow, Rain, Dry, Track, and Race.

What we covered so far is the base GTE. We’re guessing more cooling is also involved to keep the stack within the optimum temperature band as Drako mentions a so-called “massively parallel cooling architecture.” Other extras brought by the track-focused model are:

-* 20-inch lightweight forged wheels

-* Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes (6 pistons front, 4 pistons rear)

-* Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires (285/35/20 front, 305/30/20 rear)

-* track-tuned, four-way adjustable suspension with Ohlins dampers

-* carbon fiber composite panels

-* aluminum stampings

-* hand-formed aluminum panels

Pricing

Drako Motors has been adamant that the GTE production will kick off right after the EV’s debut at Pebble Beach. The GTE, however, is limited to just 25 units that can be shipped worldwide, each priced at $1.25 million. At the time of writing, Drako was accepting orders and deposits, with the first deliveries expected to take place in 2020.

Competition

Porsche Taycan

The Taycan makes do with two permanent magnet synchronous e-motors, each tasked with powering one axle for AWD abilities. The two electric motors are assisted by a newly-designed, auto-switching two-speed transmission mounted on the rear axle and a single-speed unit in the front. In the Taycan Turbo, the two motors produce 460 kW (500 kW with launch control) and 626 pound-feet of torque. The Taycan Turbo S gets 460 kW, but with launch control the output jumps to 560 kW, while torque is rated at 774 pound-feet. Regardless of what variant you pick, you get a 93-kWh battery pack. Max range is yet to be announced, but both the Taycan Turbo and the Taycan Turbo S can reach a top track speed of 161 miles per hour. The former, however, clears the 0-60 miles per hour sprint in 3 seconds with launch control, while the latter is quicker, managing to dispatch the same interval in 2.6 seconds with launch control.

Read our full review on the 2020 Porsche Taycan

Tesla Model S

The Model S can be had, at the time of writing, in two flavors: Performance and Long Range. The Model S 100D Long Range packs 417 horsepower and can reach 60 miles per hour from a standstill in 3.7 seconds en route to a top speed of 155 miles per hour. The 100D Performance, on the other hand, makes do with 762 horsepower and thanks to the Ludicrous mode, can reach 60 miles per hour from naught in 2.4 seconds. Vmax comes in at 163 miles per hour. Specs aside, there’s a big difference between the level of practicality offered by the Model S in comparison to the Drako GTE, which is designed and conceived as a grand tourer, whereas the Model S takes a more traditional sedan shape.

Read our full review on the 2019 Tesla Model S

Final Thoughts

The years to come will bring major advances in battery technology and e-motors. While that’s bound to help EVs get an even stronger grasp on the car industry and bump up sales, it will also benefit those looking for a performance-oriented electric car. Drako’s proposal, while audacious to some, is just the beginning of a new niche - that of high-performance EVs. If the GTE will materialize, Drako will join the likes of Rimac, Porsche, and Tesla in a very select club that’s putting electricity in the service of performance first and foremost. So for those V-8, V-10, and V-12 lovers out there, here’s the thing: it’s hard to replace the beloved ICE, we get it, but the future will bring some dang awesome cars, so let’s just enjoy the ride, shall we?