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Michael Taylor14 May 2021
NEWS

Electric Italian hypercar promises 1500kW

Will the $3 million Estrema Fulminea concept be lightning strike or just a flash in the sky?

A remarkable four-motor electric hypercar that will cost €1,961,000 ($A3.07 million) but promises to hit 320km/h in less than 10 seconds has been revealed by Italian EV start-up Automobili Estrema.

The sleek Estrema Fulminea – which is Italian for ‘lightning’ will boast two different types of energy storage (solid-state lithium-ion batteries paired with a super-capacitor) to deliver almost double the energy density of standard lithium-ion batteries.

In concept form, the Fulminea promises 520km of WLTP-cycle range from its twin battery technologies, and Automobili Estrema founder and CEO Gianfranco Pizzuto claims the first of a 61-car production run will be on the streets in 2023.

Development of the Estrema Fulminea is leaning heavily on a Belgian solid-state battery supplier and a Turkish super-capacitor researcher for its power pack.

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With a claimed 1500kW of power, though, the Fulminea has avoided the normal traps of 100kWh battery cars by slashing weight through a heavy reliance on carbon-fibre technology.

Weighing at only 1500kg, the Fulminea has benefitted from a battery pack that only weighs 300kg, despite being 4683mm long, 2052mm wide and 1148mm high.

The company, founded in 2020, envisages 0-100km/h sprint times of less than two seconds. It will be speed-limited at 350km/h.

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Put together by a who’s who of automotive experts in Modena, in the heart of Italy’s Motor Valley (home to Lamborghini, Maserati, Pagani and Ferrari, to name only the most obvious), the Fulminea has yet to turn a wheel and Pizzuto admits the hypercar remains more theoretical than practical at the moment.

The self-funded Automobili Estrema project has only produced the concept design version of the Fulminea so far, with the twin battery systems still under development at their respective research facilities.

“We have tested the cells in the laboratories in Brussels,” Pizzuto said. “By the end of the year or early 2022 there will be a pilot [battery] line to scale production for megaWatt hours for our car.

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“Only then will we match the battery pack in the two prototypes for the road, by 2022. It’s only at laboratory levels of development right now,” he admitted.

The Fulminea powertrain will be geared towards spending most of its time being driven by energy from the solid-state batteries, with extra ‘turbo’ boosting being taken care of by the super-capacitor mounted on the front axle.

Besides delivering 500kWh of energy per kilogram, Automobili Estrema is also claiming 1.2kWh per litre of battery cell.

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Pizzuto added that the Automobili Estrema production plan did not stop at just one hypercar, but would also eventually deliver a second, less expensive sports car.

“Let’s see if we can bring it to the streets,” Pizzuto said.

“We financed the whole project by ourselves, plus family and friends,” he admitted, adding that external financing was a possibility after the company demonstrated its hypercar prowess.

Pizzuto was an early investor in electric car-maker Fisker and also plans a Formula E team, though the timing for that is unclear.

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Written byMichael Taylor
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