Shelby Building An Electric Supercar?

What do you get when one puts an “electric powertrain” into the “World’s fastest production car?” The “World’s fastest production electric car.”

The Guinness World Records has already certified that Shelby’s Ultimate Aero TT supercar is the fastest production car in the world with a speed in excess of 412 km/h (256.14 mph).

With that record in that bag, Shelby is aiming for another. This time it’s the “World’s fastest production electric car.” Shelby is planning to incorporate its “All Electric Scalable Powertrain” into the Ultimate Aero super car pictured above. Shelby feels that this model will act as a high visibility outlet to demonstrate the capabilities of its new Green powertrain. The new electric car has been dubbed as the Ultimate Aero EV.

Basically Shelby is out there trying to prove that electric powered vehicles will not only match but also provide more linear power (electric motors have 100% torque at 0 RPM) and overall performance than internal combustion cars.

According to Shelby, the Ultimate Aero EV can cough up an astounding 1000 hp and 800 lbft of torque enabling it to rocket to 60 mph in a mere 2.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 208 mph. The Ultimate Aero EV will have a range of 150-200 miles on a single charge, with its patented onboard charging system that will recharge the battery completely in 10 minutes on a 220V line. The car will sport a 3 speed automatic transmission rendering shift times of .24 seconds. The entire AESP is liquid cooled allowing it to run for extended periods of time at peak performance with no overheating issues.

Shelby expects to roll out its first full scale, pre production Ultimate Aero EV in the second quarter of 2009. Ultimate Aero EV deliveries will start as early as fourth quarter 2009.

For further reading, please click here.

Source: Shelby Supercars