Piech Automotive has delivered a big replace on the Piech GT electrical coupe, final seen on the 2019 Geneva Motor Present in prototype type.
The corporate, based by Toni Piech – son of the late VW Group boss Ferdinand Piech – seems to be to promote the all-electric GT earlier than the mid a part of the 2020s, and has confirmed that an SUV sibling can be within the early levels of growth.
Piech is a bit of not on time (due partially to the coronavirus pandemic), with the GT now as a result of enter sequence manufacturing in 2024. When it’s lastly on the highway, it’ll turn into a rival for the likes of Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT, in addition to conventional front-engined sports activities vehicles such because the Jaguar F-Type and Nissan GT-R.
The Piech GT’s powertrain contains a 75kWh battery pack and three electrical motors – one mounted on the entrance axle and two on the rear. The system has a mixed output of 603bhp which the agency says is sufficient for a 0–62mph of lower than three seconds. Piech additionally says the GT will get from 0–124mph in underneath 9 seconds.
Complete vary is alleged to be 500km (311 miles), however the charging functionality in growth for the GT is what stands out. The model has partnered with electrical automobile charging expertise firm TGOOD, to supply a devoted fast-charger for the GT which the corporate says can obtain the identical 80 p.c cost degree in simply 5 minutes. Nonetheless, technical particulars of how this works haven’t been disclosed.
Charging the Piech GT at a European CCS2 charging station (corresponding to an Ionity 350kW charger) can replenish the battery to 80 per cent in eight minutes.
The corporate needs the automobile to deal with like a real sports activities automobile and, extra importantly, be interesting to these patrons who would usually go for a petrol-powered sports activities automobile.
It weighs 1,800kg – about the identical as an Aston Martin DBS – and Piech has tried to emulate the dealing with traits of a typical sports activities automobile by separating the battery pack in two halves, mounting one within the central tunnel and one on the rear axle.
Coupled with the place of the electrical motors, Piech says this format offers a weight steadiness “that had beforehand been the unique protect of pure sports activities vehicles with inside combustion engines.” The format additionally means the seats might be mounted decrease, as there’s no battery underneath the ground, which advantages the automobile’s centre of gravity and styling.
Rea Stark Rajcic, co-founder and Chief Design Officer for Piech Automotive, mentioned: “The brand new Piëch GT ought to convincingly transport the DNA of a traditional sports activities automobile into the electrical age. We created a sports activities automobile with a timeless design, identical to we might dream ourselves.
“And we spoke at size with automobile lovers about what’s lacking available on the market. The consequence was a contemporary traditional that isn’t certain by any shopper cycles. Drivers of our sports activities automobile ought to get pleasure from each second they spend behind the wheel.”
The Piech GT’s styling hasn’t modified since its idea first appeared at Geneva a couple of years in the past. It retains the standard “lengthy bonnet, brief tail” silhouette, borrowing styling cues from greats corresponding to Aston Martin DB9 and Alfa Romeo 8C.
The corporate says it seems to be to comply with the identical pre-production and manufacturing course of utilized by all the large German producers. Which means excessive climate testing and harsh shakedowns on the Nurburgring to verify all of the fixings are as much as the job, even in the long term.
Piech Automotive: future autos
The 2-seat GT received’t be the one automobile we’ll see from Piech within the coming years, both. The corporate already has plans for a sporty electrical SUV and an electrical saloon referred to as the Piech Sportlimousine, each of which might be constructed on the identical modular underpinnings because the GT.
Rajcic outlined his firm’s product technique, saying: “Our modular idea not solely provides us freedom within the design to create autos which might be as enticing as doable, however on the similar time serves as a platform for all different physique shapes.
“The preliminary focus is clearly on the two-seater Piëch GT sports activities automobile, whereas the sporty Piëch SUV brings extra quantity in gross sales and the four-seater Piëch Sportlimousine gives extra occupant house and spherical off the product vary.”
The platform’s modularity can even permit Piech to improve its battery packs and motors as expertise advances, which ought to maintain the chassis related for so long as doable. Toni Piech, the corporate’s CEO, additionally says the platform will permit his agency to “reply flexibly to corresponding developments and breakthroughs within the discipline of hydrogen or gasoline cells.”
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