Ariel Motors, the tiny English company responsible for minimalist open-air cars such as the Atom and Nomad, has unveiled what could be its wildest creation yet: a new prototype dubbed the Hipercar.
Built in collaboration with Cosworth-Delta, the electric powertrain division of the legendary engine builder and engineering consultancy, the Hipercar isn't exactly graced with flowing, curvaceous lines, its 3D-printed body panels instead possessing an aggressive angularity with intakes, vents and fins galore all aimed at cooling the powertrain and managing the aerodynamic forces needed to help the Hipercar meet its design brief - to be as highly competent on the track as it is on the road.
Tough design brief
In building the Hipercar prototype (the name is an acronym standing for High Performance Carbon Reduction), Ariel worked closely with Cosworth, employing the firm's proprietary Cylindrical Scalable Modular battery pack that can be produced to any size and shape making it ideal for use by low-volume car-makers such as Ariel.
According to Cosworth, one of the biggest challenges in designing the battery system for the Hipercar came in the form of stipulations from Ariel that the powertrain would need to be able to handle the heat generated by use on track - it can be more than ten times greater than that created even during hard road use. The other requirement was that the battery would need to be able to supply enough power to the electric motors to enable the Hipercar to beat lap records set by combustion-engined cars.
On paper at least (the Hipercar is still in the testing and development stage), the numbers look good. The 62kWh battery pack supplies power to a 300hp electric motor at each wheel with power totalling around 1,200hp. That's enough to propel the Hipercar - according to Ariel's simulations - from 0-100km/h in around 2.1 seconds. The range is around the 240km mark.
Turbine power
So far, so electric hypercar, but Ariel has another trick up its sleeve thanks to Cosworth. Poking out from the rear is a catalytic generator, a small turbine that acts as a range extender for the Hipercar's battery. This can theoretically run on many different types of fuel from petrol to synthetic e-fuels to, eventually, hydrogen, which would make the Hipercar a totally zero-emissions vehicle. The best bit about it though, is that, according to Ariel, it generates a characteristic turbine-like whine, which means that at times, it sounds a bit like a jet engine.
"Hard challenge"
"Developing battery technology for the Hipercar programme has provided the team a hard challenge," said Simon Dowson, managing director at Delta-Cosworth.
"Not only have we had to develop ultra-lightweight structures to manufacture the battery pack, but also maximise the cells performance as much as possible. We have also built upon our already existing vehicle integration capabilities, by collaborating with the Ariel engineering team to ensure our battery pack fits into the tightest dimensions, while keeping the mass as low as possible to keep the vehicle light and agile. The car has performed as expected in testing and we are excited to see how much performance we can extract from the car with further testing."
The Hipercar prototype will make its public debut at the Cenex LCV2022 event in the UK next week.