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Cars will reach 60 mph in less than a second

At the recent Auto Week in Monterey, Chief Program Engineer of Rimac Nevera, Matija Renić, made a statement that pushes the limits when it comes to electric hypercars accelerations. When asked how fast cars will reach 60 mph in the future he said “in less than a second.”

Rimac Nevera with 1914 hp

The development of electric cars was primarily aimed at endurance and range, but the development of technology allowed new companies, who saw their opportunity, to create new super fast electric cars. Currently, most cars reach 60 mph in 2.5 – 3 seconds, which is a big improvement from the not-so-distant past. But let’s talk about the fastest ones.

Let’s take Rimac Automobile for example. Their fastest car Nevera has 1,914 hp and 1,741 lb-ft of torque, which allows it to reach 60 mph in 1.85 seconds with a top speed of 258 mph (413 km / h). It is the result of long-term development, but also the pride of the Rimac company. “The car is very fast, really. The values ​​are like that, we are proud of them, but the car is more than that. The car is not a specialist for one thing, it is not a dragster with which you will go to the track and achieve a record time,” said Matija Renić . The company is aware that creating a car that will reach 60 mph in less than a second will be a very difficult task, but the current cars show what automotive technology will be able to do in the future. The goal of Rimac Automobili was not a racing car, but a driver’s car, something that is very attractive and will reward the driver as soon as he hits the road and starts enjoying the drive.

Engine development and horse power will not be a problem, but something else looms as a major obstacle for current road cars, and that is the effect of g-force on the driver’s body. What allows race car drivers to withstand high g-force, especially when entering corners, is a specially designed cockpit. This is currently not possible with road cars, and if they want to reach acceleration under one second, new innovative solutions will have to be found. As an example, an acceleration of one second means a g-force of about 2.8, and half a second of nearly 6, which is more than the g-force that affects a pilot when taking off from an aircraft carrier.

Enthusiasm and hope are what pull engineers towards their goal. But how far are we actually from those “less than a second”?

Source: The Drive

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Smart #1 Brabus

The German tuner Brabus is a specialist for big brands such as Mercedes, BMW and Porsche, now the Smart model has come out of its workshop. It is the all-electric crossover Smart #1 Brabus presented at the recently held auto show in China.

As for all its models, Brabus equipped the Smart with a “wild” body kit. All copies will be in Matt gray, Silent black and Laser red colors. However, this time the engineers were more subtle by adding additional intakes under the front cover, front air curtains, a red roof with an integrated rear roof spoiler, red mirror housings, red brake calipers and new rims in a combination of silver and black.

Inside, the seats are upholstered in black leather and Alcantara with red stitching. The same combination can be seen on the dashboard and door panels, while the steering wheel is covered in black leather with red stitching. There’s also plenty of other accessories and the Brabus logo on the headrests.

When it comes to propulsion, Brabus has placed an electric motor up front with 154 hp (113 kW) and 148 lb-ft (200 Nm) of torque, while a second electric motor with 268 hp (197 kW) and 253 lb-ft (343 Nm) of torque placed on the rear axle. Thus, the total power of the crossover is raised to 422 hp (310 kW) and 400 lb-ft (543 Nm) of torque. It reaches 62 mph in 3.7 seconds, and thanks to the 66 kWh battery, it will have a range of less than 440 kilometers.

The Smart #1 Brabus costs $40,600 in China, and whether it will be available in other markets is unknown.

Source: Brabus

News

McLaren SUV

McLaren has been talking about an SUV model for many years, and at the end of last year a teaser was released that pointed to such a thing. Now, with the arrival of the new Chief Executive Officer, Michael Leiters, the story could become a reality.

Photo: Autocar

“I developed an SUV at Ferrari. I developed an SUV at Porsche, so I love SUVs. But we won’t do it for me. Yet I think it’s a really important market. It still is, and it continues to grow. It’s very attractive as a market segment,” said Leiters.

With its first SUV, McLaren would join Ferrari, Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, and Lamborghini. Given the high demand for SUVs, it would be a good move for a company that has been in a financial crisis for a long time. Leiters was involved in the development of the Porsche Cayenne and Macan, so his experience could play a key role.

McLaren announced that the decision has not been made, but that an SUV is one of the options. McLaren is definitely not capable of doing something like this on its own, so it needs a partner. Rumors say it could be German companies, Audi or BMW. Anyway, technology is one thing and finance is something completely different. “And if you find both in one, that will definitely be the best. But it has to be the right partner. We have to maintain our DNA; I’m not interested in any partner which gives me only ‘me too’ technology. So the question is to find the right partner; the question is not to find a partner,” said Leiters.

Whatever the decision may be, it seems that McLaren has taken small steps towards an SUV. The question remains, will the McLaren SUV be a hybrid or a fully electric car?

Source: Autocar

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