Wrightspeed X1: electric now among world's fastest cars

Which electric car has a quarter ton of batteries, a 100 mile range, recharges in 4.5 hours, and can best the nearly all the world's fastest cars in a 0 to 60 drag -- including the Ferrari 360 Spyder and Porsche Carrera GT? It's ex-Cisco and DEC engineer Ian Wright's Wrightspeed X1 electric racer, now second only to the 3-second Bugatti Veyron. Sound too good to be true? Well, it will set you back $100,000 and they're by no means commercial. But if for some reason you're looking for a better way to melt the skin off your face hitting 8Gs of blinding software-optimized electric horsepower, we've got the car for you.

[Via CNN and MobileMag]

[Gihad Joe @ May 7th 2006 5:51AM]

Although I have not yet read the article, The car is based on the Ariel Atom. Atoms' come installed with either Honda or GM motors. Recently Ariel Discontinued the Honda Atom in the US and sells only the GM powered version. If you want a honda powered car you must live in the UK to get one.

The price for a Petrol Powered Atom costs around 29-39k base price. Fully loaded with carbon fiber and F-1 style wings will set you back $75-90k USD


They are a real blast to drive. If you have the cash, consider one of these. They are definitly a great motorcycle replacement.
http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/

[Chris @ May 7th 2006 5:54AM]

Is that really the car? because if it is, there doesnt seem to be that much room for a 1/4 ton of batteries and an engine big enough to deliver the horsepower for that good of an acceleration.

[Daniel @ Apr 9th 2008 4:58PM]

Batteries are very very dense. The batteries in the military's SINCGARS radios amount for half the weight but only take up a fifth of the space.

[l @ May 7th 2006 6:24AM]

This is probably the coolest motor vehicle ever created, ZOOOOOOM

[xin @ May 7th 2006 6:46AM]

Your Geektionary replaced "Wrightspeed" with "Writespeed"

[xin @ May 7th 2006 6:46AM]

Your Geektionary replaced "Wrightspeed" with "Writespeed"

[herenot @ May 7th 2006 7:41AM]

This one annoys me. IT IS BASED ON THE ARIEL ATOM, and there is ZERO mentune of this in the web site, or the films. Even worse, the film mention the slick styling of the x1. it's the slick styling of the atom. I really hope that the Ariel guys sue these guys. what assholes.


http://www.arielmotor.co.uk/04/frames.htm

[dino @ Feb 1st 2007 10:39PM]

if u bother cliking on the picture it tells u all that.....

[gib786 @ May 7th 2006 7:50AM]

The first thing I thought when I saw the pic was ariel atom, those things rock, would be awesome to have as a 2nd car just for the summer, better than any convertible!

[Blake @ May 7th 2006 8:53AM]

This is a very cool concept, I would buy one if they were mass produced.

[Sylvie LG Pollard @ Nov 7th 2007 5:06PM]

This car is amazing but not the best. A car called Lightning can go faster, further and charge in minutes not hours. The braking system provides even more charge as you drive it. However, a company has emerged that can imrove on even that performance where the batteries are concerned. For more info: www.deviceconduit.com!!!

[Sheldon @ May 7th 2006 9:25AM]

The thing that has disappointed me was the downright poor reporting done on this car. Very few articles said that he basically changed the power-plant to a motor in the Atom, instead they give the impression that he was also responsible for the styling of the car!

Oh, and if you think the Atom is an awesome car anyway, then I recommend you get yourself a passenger ride in a BEC (Bike Engined Car) and you'll think the Atom is a dull ride!

[Frog51 @ May 7th 2006 10:46AM]

Oh yes - the Westfield Megablade... google for it, and enjoy the lunacy:-)

[Matt S @ May 7th 2006 10:56AM]

The normal petrol version of the Ariel Atom is also faster than the Porsche Carrera GT, they tested it on Top Gear in the UK about a year ago.

Here's a video of it, about 2mins in it gets funny :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdkEV-t9jg0

[Raider @ May 7th 2006 11:50AM]

Actually Gihad Joe, you can still get the Honda iVtec motor in the US. It's a special order, but still available.
It's an Honda Civic SI R motor. 245hp or 300hp is the only option for the Honda motors. While 140hp, 205hp, 230hp, 245hp and 300hp is available on the GM ecotec motor.

[marcin @ May 7th 2006 12:14PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVawYlcQFD4&search=Wrightspeed%20X1

[Chris @ May 7th 2006 1:02PM]

What a joke of a race. Get a guy that can drive the 360 and not spin the whole way. And in the GT race they went from a rolling start. Any links to see these car run from the tree?

[SuperQ @ May 7th 2006 1:23PM]

I've seen this car in person, it's an amazing EV conversion of the Atom. He had to re-work some of the structure to fit the LiIon battery pack. One of the things not mentioned in the article is that because it uses LiIon it can handle many more charges than a normal lead-acid based EV. With the next generation of batteries he plans to use in the commercial version of the X1 he claimed reliability through 10 years/250k miles. (125 miles range, 2000 charge cycles)

[Joe @ May 7th 2006 1:38PM]

So, why is this so much newer from the Tzero that AC Propulsion put out like a year ago? I mean, AC Propulsion engineered their car pretty much from the bottom up. This guy just hacked an existing car. So what's new?

[Lee Gibson @ May 7th 2006 2:42PM]

I'd be very, very interested to see the gas and electric versions of the Atom on the same road course.

Drag racing bores me. Get back to me when it can win races that have both left and right turns.

[Eion @ May 7th 2006 4:30PM]

Second only to the Veyron? I think not. The Dauer 962LM (basically a tuned, street legal Porsche 962 with a decent interior) can do 0-60 in 2.6.
Then you have cars like the Panoz LMP01, which is less than 2.3 to 60, and then 100mph in about 4.5.

Four and a half hours to recharge? When they make it as quick filling up with gas, I might consider it. I'm bad enough about forgetting to charge my cellphone.

[Scott @ May 7th 2006 6:09PM]

Wow! I watched the movie on it! That thing can hug turns so well! I want one!

[Smull @ May 7th 2006 6:17PM]

Not the only electric sports car. Monaco's investors bought a former French manufacture, they made de Venturi Fetish (equivalent price/ not as fast as the Atom). Much more beautiful, though. No pictures found...

[Roger @ May 7th 2006 7:28PM]

Go to http://www.venturi.fr/langues.php3 for info and pics on the Venturi Fetish...

[Yiandes @ May 7th 2006 7:52PM]

I actually rode in the X1 a few weeks ago at the Palo Alto EAA (Electric Auto Association) meeting. I have seen tzeros, I build electric cars, and have seen the X1 and let me tell you, it's an amazing car. Ian Wright did a fantastic job with the conversion.
The first thing to realize is Ian Wright is a race car driver. He knows what a car should feel like, knows how they should be built, etc. Second, this took some fabrication and is built with the best parts on the barket from chasis to internal workings to the batteries. Supurb work.

The difference beween this and the comparable gas version is this one is a) environmentally friendly b) not a gas gussler c) in terms of btus, gets over 130mpg.

[Justin @ May 7th 2006 7:59PM]

15 - "Equivalent price"? The Fetish will run you over half a million dollars delivered. I'm sorry, that's not even in the same universe as the Atom and other performance EV's. The Fetish is also much heavier and has a lower top speed (~105mph), and does 0-60 in 4.6 - 4.8 seconds (reports vary).

Nothing Venturi builds will ever be a major contender with other performance vehicles. They will simply be limited-quantity eccentric collector's items for the super-wealthy.

[anon @ May 7th 2006 8:17PM]

The atom w/ Honda Type-R engine will beat the electric in 0-60 and kill it in turns and top speed. The petrol ariel is only 1000lbs while the electric is 1500. The electric is also double the price and has such a short range.

[Gihad Joe @ May 8th 2006 12:20AM]

"9. Actually Gihad Joe, you can still get the Honda iVtec motor in the US. It's a special order, but still available.
It's an Honda Civic SI R motor. 245hp or 300hp is the only option for the Honda motors. While 140hp, 205hp, 230hp, 245hp and 300hp is available on the GM ecotec motor."



There was a 300HP Honda Option avalable in the USA and UK. I do not know what happened to it though.

By the way Jeremy Clarkson Rocks!

Side Note: the designer could have saved a lot of weight by replacing the batteries with a methanol or hydrogen fuel Cell.

[Goreged Bushed @ May 10th 2006 7:32AM]

I am getting real tired of people saying this or that car is worth $100,000 - $1,000,000. That is not the price of the car, the real cost is in the R&D, not the production of the car. Every prototype made produces only one car and everything that lead up to the making of that one car is R&D cost. Divide that $100,000 over 1000 cars and that cost is now $100 per car. Now divide that over a million cars, you do the math.

[Chas Martin @ Jul 7th 2006 6:53PM]

It's a concept. A great one at that. So, we know that performance doesn't depend on an internal combustion engine. Now that we've settled that, we can get down to the business of what it takes to make a suitable production car from this technology. Otherwise, it's just another novelty. With a zero emissions strategy, making this practical is revolutionary. See additional comments at Intersectional thinking in auto design.

[Dennis @ Jul 10th 2006 6:40PM]

I don't think you people understand torque at 0 rpm. Use some common sense and ask yourself "why do internal combustion engines need a clutch or torque converter while an electric motor can be directly coupled to the gear drive".....

Please learn about electric motor torque people...

I am getting to the point where I am going to cross couple an electric motor shaft to an internal combustion engine and post the result of youtube to let you people understand what torque is.......

[Colin @ Oct 2nd 2006 1:46AM]

yea, so electrics have huge torque at 0 rpm, whats your point? nobody said anything about that...

[Used Car Parts @ Oct 10th 2006 3:13AM]

Watched a very interesting review on the G Wiz electric car last night. Tim Lovejoy from Channel 5�s Fifth Gear took to the streets of London to see if the �7,000 G Wiz was a practical enough vehicle. He found it wasn�t much use for taking the kids to school as it was a little on the small side for the children in the back but was adequate enough to get him self and his golf clubs in, so not too bad I suppose.

It is reckoned that the �7,000 price tag for the car will pay for its self within 1 year due to the car being exempt from the congestion charge, road tax, and can be parked for free in central London. The top speed of the car is just 40 mph and can travel for 40 miles on a single charge. In my eyes this is perfected for anyone living in the central of London.
From James at Used Car Parts