The Renovo Coupe is the latest electric car from Silicon Valley and is described as “the first all-electric American supercar” by the company’s co-founder and CEO Christopher Heiser.
Some internet commenters (i.e. self-proclaimed experts) say this is not a supercar. I don’t know whether it is or not but it seems plenty powerful to me. The Renovo Coupe’s electric motor produces 500 horsepower and 1,000 pound-feet of torque, reaching the 60 mph mark in 3.4 seconds; these numbers seem pretty supercar-like to me, but maybe the car’s top speed of 120 mph is the only thing holding this car back.
The Renovo Coupe is built on the chassis of the Shelby CSX9000, which is a reproduction of the 1960’s Shelby Daytona Coupe. The Daytona Coupe was one of my favorite cars for a while; I still love the design of this car though.
The Renovo Coupe has been designed by Peter Brock, the same guy that designed the original car decades ago. The new car’s design may look retro on the outside, but it comes packed with modern electronics and includes ABS, traction control, automatic transmission, and not to mention the electric motor and a big battery pack.
The battery pack is a 740 volt unit that has a range of 100 miles. The company says they could have increased the range but it would’ve made the car much heavier. In current configuration the car weighs 3,250 pounds. The battery pack also comes with a quick charge option, which charges the batteries in 30 minutes.
The Renovo Coupe will go into production mid-2015, with deliveries taking place by the end of 2015. The car is priced at $529,000 and an initial batch of 100 cars will be produced.
