This day in age, when we’ve got cars running on such things as electricity and Liquid Petroleum Gas, looking back in time may seem like the last place you’d look for some inspiration. Not for Bugatti.
It turns out that electric vehicles are nothing new to Bugatti, in fact, they’re pretty old news. Back in the 1930’s Bugatti built the Type 56, a modest 0.8kw electric vehicle, which became Ettore Bugatti’s personal runabout.
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But now, almost 80 years later, Bugatti has a new electric vehicle – one that promises a bit more of an impact than the Type 56. Still in the prototype stages and believed to be based on a Bentley Continental GT chassis, Bugatti has built an 800bhp battery powered supercar to rival the behemoth that is the Veyron.
The car features an advanced lithium-ion battery pack and two inordinately powerful electric motors, capable of producing an obscene 2,200Nm of torque from 0mph. The electric supercar is said to have ‘unbelievable acceleration’ in comparison to any other electric, road-going vehicle.
It’s not without its flaws, however. When being pushed to its performance limits, the car lasts all but a matter of minutes before needing to be recharged, which is a bit of a let-down.
And for a bit more bad news, it has been suggested that this model is being prepared solely to present engineers with an opportunity to explore the performance electric cars have to offer. Which in a nutshell, means ‘don’t get your hopes up about buying one.’
But don’t despair! For those have the cash lying around to spend on a Bugatti and more importantly, actually fancy owning an electric super-car, you will be relieved to know that this isn’t the first time the company has played down production rumours.
Again, back to the 30’s and Ettore Bugatti, the founder of the company. The Type 56 was never intended for production. In fact, it was a novelty for Ettore which, after customer demand, was made available to a select group of the public. So there is still hope that this groundbreaking - concept could eventually go into production.
Even if this car never grows out of the concept stages, it’s still a huge leap forward in the world of electric cars and the motor industry as a whole. Who knows, it could even start an electric super-car trend. Not that we really want to see a load of supercars that sound like vacuum cleaners, but you know... its green and stuff.