ZAP releases details and drawings of their impending 644 horsepower ZAP-X electric SUV
Will Tesla soon have competition in the electric supercar market from Zap? They just might, if you believe the almost unbelievable statistics Zap! is claiming in their press release (a really big if). Information at this point leads us to believe that Zap!, like fellow electric carmaker Phoenix, will be using batteries purchased from Altairnano. Claims from Zap! indicate that their vehicle with these batteries will be able to travel 350 miles between charges, after a charge time of only 10 minutes. Phoenix claims a similarly short charge time for their vehicles with the Altairnano batteries.
Other interesting "green features" of the vehicle include solar charging from the vehicles glass. We have pondered the possibility of this before, and now it seems it may become a reality. Don't expect the solar charging to add a significant amount of drive time however, perhaps the vehicles accessories won't drain the batteries so fast. Don't expect a great deal of luggage space, however, the vehicle does have 4 doors, making it a more practical choice than some other potential electric vehicles. The dimensions of the vehicle indicate it will be slightly larger than the Toyota Prius. Here is one statistic that the Prius can't touch... how about up to 644 horsepower and a top speed of 155 mph? This performance would come with all-wheel-drive courtesy of a motor in each wheel.
Click for more about the vehicle, and another concept drawing.
Gallery: Lotus APX concept
[Source: ZAP via Insidegreentech]
More details of the vehicle center on the included built-in computer. The computer system, known as "carputer" to Zap! will support WiFi, bluetooth, USB2 and high definition video capabilities. As the pictures show, Zap! is collaborating with Lotus for the design of this vehicle, which can only be good news as far as I am concerned. Our gallery of the Lotus APX, on which this car is based is above.
If these specifications prove accurate, we may have a new high performance, all-wheel-drive supercar... uh, SUV to compete with the worlds most exotic cars. Zap! estimates that impending customers will need $60,000 to purchase one. Are you as interested in this possibility as we are? You'd better be! Thanks for the tip, Dallas!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DPC car videos 10:29PM (3/19/2007)
As I mentioned on autoblog.com this car is very impressive since it doesn't have the light weight look yet delivers performance and range.
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mirko 6:41AM (3/20/2007)
It may not have light weight looks, but it's built on Lotus' light APX platform.
Yet... vaporware doesn't impress. They'll have to actually build something to impress. Then there is the problem of pricing. 10 minute recharging time means they are most probably using AltairNano's batteries. This is a problem because:
AltairNano batteries are in the Phoenix electric truck, with a 110 mile range. They are so expensive they have to sell their truck at a huge loss and get their earnings off selling zero emission credits.
Yeah right. Interesting business model. And what happens if the zero emission credits are changed?
Considering the ZAP is lighter than the cheap Korean SUV based Phoenix, it'll still need twice the batteries.
A lot more interesting are the in-wheel motors. They don't state who supplies them, but I'd bet my money on PML Flightlink.
One must admire the versatility of Lotus. On the one hand they are developing the Roadster for Tesla, with a conventional motor/diff setup, while Tesla is publicly dissing in-wheel motor setups as inferior - on the other hand they are developing this in-wheel-drive monster for ZAP.
I wonder when they will come out with a prototype...
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Tony Belding 11:26AM (3/20/2007)
Lotus Engineering is like a band of mercenaries. When car makers have problems their in-house engineering staff can't figure out, they call in Lotus to sort it for them. A lot of cars on the road, from a lot of different makers, have engines or suspensions that Lotus contributed to.
In order to keep this kind of business going, they have to stay a step ahead of the engineers working for the big car makers. Lotus are constantly tinkering with new technologies and trying to figure out where the industry is going, because their livelihood depends on getting there first.
They also appear to be very agnostic when it comes to competing technologies. If ZAP comes to them wanting electric hub motors, they'll happily do that. If GM comes to them wanting a turbocharged V8, they'll happily do that. Aluminum, steel, fiberglass, carbon fiber. . . It's all good, as long as they get paid.
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moogy 11:24AM (3/20/2007)
I remember 10 years back Hydro-Quebec had an electric wheel motor 14000 of toque.
The companies making the batteries better get into gear when the time for mas production comes...
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Peter 2:07PM (3/20/2007)
I've been up and down about Tesla's well-meaning but poorly conceived competition - mostly down - but I think it's well worth a lot of risk and money to make electric cars as sexy as possible. They (electric cars) have developed a very bad rep, and even if the business model is unsustainable, AltairNano makes a damn fine battery, and one that's good enough to replace the gasoline engine for all forms of consumer transportation. The first thing that people say when I start talking about Teslas is always 1)Yeah, well how far can it go? and then 2)But it takes a long time to charge, right? AltairNano's technology solves these skeptic's "issues" and requires very little infrastructure replacement for a complete fleet replacement (at the refilling station at least - not necessarily at the manufacturing or lithium-mining level).
So I say hooray for this, even if it does turn out to be vaporware! Bringing the sexy back to electric cars is far better that bringing out another Dodge Behemoth.
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frank78 12:01AM (3/21/2007)
This could all be smoke, but if it's not- just wow!! Even with a premium price tag- probably slightly more than the upcoming Tesla White Star, this would be great news.
If the range turns out to be only 250 miles instead of 350 miles, that's pretty good. How often do people drive more than 250 miles in a day??? Very rarely. Besides, if someone can afford to pay what these cars will cost for the next few years until battery prices drop, something tells me they have access to another car or can manage to squeeze out $50 for a one day car rental if they are going on a long drive.
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coolmidnightrain 12:13PM (3/21/2007)
I have to agree with everyone about this cars anticipated performance capabilities/price are not going to be realistically achievable at this time.
However, I do hope they do manage to get this vehicle out at close to the $60K price they are targeting because I really like the APX concept vehicle and would love to get the chance to drive a real one. I very much hope this actually makes it into production, although I would have rather seen a different company license the APX as I have doubts about Zap! remaining in business for the long term.
My other concern is I live in Canada, not California and electric vehicles do not preform well when it's minus 30 degrees Celsius outside. Cold weather performance is a concern for me and I doubt any existing or proposed electric vehicles from the Southern United States will address that issue
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Michael 10:05PM (3/21/2007)
As far as Zap making it in the long term, I think they can do it. They have already been in business for 13 years. =)
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Jeff 12:21PM (4/16/2007)
Electric cars will slow down global warming!!!!
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