Wrightspeed SR-71 electric car will do 0-60 in 2.5 seconds
By Joshua Fruhlinger 
posted May 24th 2008 3:29AM
posted May 24th 2008 3:29AM
posted May 24th 2008 3:29AM
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I agree. Like, when I bought my motorbike, what I didn't realize was that I had to pay thousands extra to get a stereo and air conditioning included.
And then I washed it for the first time...
3:30 ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_wTBZ2vFy4
Heck that's just plain silly. You need both hands on the steering for a bike.
Ya know... 2.5 seconds is nice and all...
...But so is 3.9, and the Tesla 'DarkStar' looks a whole lot sexier.
Oh, and the top gear where jeremy melted his face is one of my favorites.
I really want an atom, those things are baaaaaaaad
For God's sake. The world is absolutely screaming for alternative fuel vehicles so what are they turning out? Cars that will be so freeking overpriced that NOBODY but the grotesquely rich will be able to afford them. Yeah, this car is really cool but so what. I could care less about it being able to go from 0-60 in 2.5 seconds. How about a car that could get me from Milwaukee to Chicago and back again with some charge left over? How about that car costing less than 20k? And no, I'm not smoking anything.
The thing is, it's only by producing the high-margin, low-volume version of any product that companies can make a mass-market version available. When HDTVs came out, they cost 10-15k and only the very wealthy bought them. For that matter, when the first internal combustion cars were built, they cost huge sums as well. By building sports-car "toys" like the Tesla Roadster and this Wrightspeed, the road is paved toward the sub 20k electric car you want.
@TheChaz
I suppose so. It's just that electric cars have been around at least since I was a kid (we won't go into how long ago THAT was) yet they're still not ready for prime time. At the traditional rate that technology like this works it's way down to the masses it will be many, many years before most of us will own one. Probably about the same time I buy that aerocar I've been wanting.
This needs to be in F1.
Imagine watching the race with hardly any sound, but blazingly fast unsafe speeds. No fuel change, just swap out batteries :)
Haha, gasoline just can't keep up!
That's not a bad idea actually. It would improve safety and F1 is very keen on presenting itself as being enviromentally aware, plus it could help drive the technology forward.
F1 is already on their way to going Hybrid
http://gas2.org/2008/04/22/formula-1-racing-to-go-hybrid-from-2009-2013/
But I think right now the battery tech isnt good enough to be able to run an entire race on pure electric. When they can recharge the batteries in under 10 seconds, then get back to me.
At least in the US, there is no place to drive at really high speeds anyway. So in a sports car, you want great acceleration and handling. Electric motors are very powerful for a few seconds (until they overheat).
Electric or electric assist is the future of street legal sports cars.
What if it rains? Electric car....no roof....
This is what high-strength fibreglass is for :). Or some sort of resin polymer, anyway. Lighter than glass, and more shatter-proof. What you see is just a concept car anyway.
As for "electric" + "water" = death is not true
This isnt meant as a daily driver.
Its an EV Track Day car that you could also drive on the road if you wanted to.
When it rains, you hop in your Sedan/SUV and drive that instead.
is it just me or the guy in the picture looks like the professor from back to the future films...
no wonder this 'car' *time machine* does 0-60 in 2.5sec
0 to 60 in 2.5 sec? That's better than one G.
How does he keep it stuck to the road?
And the battery probably only lasts about 2.5 seconds too.
@Twitchy
"And we call them utes. Sure you can pick stuff up in them, but Ute (short for utility vehicle) just seems more fitting. Like car park, or footpath."
Those terms only seem "more fitting" if you're an Aussie. Most people here aren't. The fact is, "pick-up truck", "parking lot" and "sidewalk" are the superior terms. Everyone knows this.
Wow, fun fact: 0-60 in 2.5 seconds is(approx.) the acceleration of gravity O_O
The SR-71 moniker was enough to make me all giddy inside. When we were kids, me (and countless others), used to pretty much wet our pants staring at Trapper Keepers slathered with photos of the famed reconnaissance craft.
Now if only it ran like an SR-71...
Chicago to L.A. in 55 minutes anyone?
if you are worried about safety don't buy a 2.5 second 0-60 car. Go buy a Volvo!
So the X1 has already been tested on city roads like in San Francisco, but I´m not sure what the cops will tell Ian Wright if they catch him and his car.
http://www.clubofpioneers.com/blog/video-the-x1-by-wrightspeed---a-test-drive-with-ian-wright-battery-bev-electric-car-ian-wright-wrightspeed-x1/27/stories/631/