Most racing enthusiasts would tear down a blown engine and sell the parts, but not Mate Rimac. The Croatian driver seized the opportunity to create a wicked machine.
After killing the engine of his 1986 BMW 3-series during a particularly rough day at the track, he came up with a plan to convert it into an electric race car through his own company, VST Conversions.
Two years and four development stages later, the electrified 3-Series featuring 300 lithium-iron phosphate cells achieves monstrous power (900 hp), Earth-shaking accelerations (0-60 mph in 3.3 s) and a remarkable top speed (280 km/h).
Oh, and by the way, this BMW can cover 177 kilometres on a single battery charge – enough to spend a full day on the track.
It's also powerful and fast enough to kick the Tesla Roadster's butt and probably enough to challenge the Audi e-tron as well. Not bad for a home-built EV!
''The first stage, with off-the-shelf components, was finished after six months but it was quite simple with poor performance,'' said Rimac. ''Further on, we started developing and producing our own components and gradually replaced the already installed store-bought [ones].''
Most people would have been satisfied with the machine as it stands now, but VST Conversions wants to push the envelope even further for 2012 with a 1,088-horsepower electric supercar powered by four liquid-cooled, in-wheel AC motors.
''So imagine if you will, a car with over 1,000 horsepower that can control each wheel separately 1,000 times per second in a corner. We’re not only imagining it, we’re actually building it,'' Rimac said.
Source: Wired
After killing the engine of his 1986 BMW 3-series during a particularly rough day at the track, he came up with a plan to convert it into an electric race car through his own company, VST Conversions.
Two years and four development stages later, the electrified 3-Series featuring 300 lithium-iron phosphate cells achieves monstrous power (900 hp), Earth-shaking accelerations (0-60 mph in 3.3 s) and a remarkable top speed (280 km/h).
Oh, and by the way, this BMW can cover 177 kilometres on a single battery charge – enough to spend a full day on the track.
It's also powerful and fast enough to kick the Tesla Roadster's butt and probably enough to challenge the Audi e-tron as well. Not bad for a home-built EV!
''The first stage, with off-the-shelf components, was finished after six months but it was quite simple with poor performance,'' said Rimac. ''Further on, we started developing and producing our own components and gradually replaced the already installed store-bought [ones].''
Most people would have been satisfied with the machine as it stands now, but VST Conversions wants to push the envelope even further for 2012 with a 1,088-horsepower electric supercar powered by four liquid-cooled, in-wheel AC motors.
''So imagine if you will, a car with over 1,000 horsepower that can control each wheel separately 1,000 times per second in a corner. We’re not only imagining it, we’re actually building it,'' Rimac said.
Source: Wired