Electric Cars

1 of 37 Wayne Cunningham/CNET Roadshow More

1 of 45 Wayne Cunningham/CNET Roadshow More

1 of 21 Andrew Hoyle/CNET More

If you thought dwindling oil supplies meant saying goodbye to lightning-fast hypercars, think again.The NextEV Nio eP9 is an all-electric monster, whose four motors and four gearboxes (yes, you read that right) have propelled it to a record-breaking lap time on the infamous Nurburgring.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
The eP9 achieved a time around the 12.9 mile track of 7 minutes 5.12 seconds, which NextEV claims is the fastest lap time ever achieved by an electric car (the previous record being 7 minutes 22 seconds). At the heart of the eP9 are two gigantic lithium-ion batteries, which help the car achieve an equivalent horsepower of 1,360 bhp — enough to accelerate from 0-62 mph in just 2.7 seconds, reaching 200 kph (124 mph) in 7.1 seconds. It’ll manage a top speed of 194 mph.

An electronically adjustable rear wing, huge front splitter and various other aerodynamic trickery generates twice the downforce of an F1 car. Although it’s largely made from carbon fiber and other super-light materials, the weight of its two giant batteries means it weighs in at 3,825 pounds.

Now playing:
Watch this:

New EV Hypercar sets lap record at the Ring

3:54

NextEV says the batteries can be fully charged in just 45 minutes, although precise details around charging aren’t yet known. If you can’t wait, the batteries themselves can be simply swapped out for fully charged ones in about 8 minutes, the company claims

Costing $1.2 million each to build, NextEV hasn’t put a retail price on the car, but that doesn’t really matter: Only six models are going to be made and they’re all earmarked for the company’s investors. The car is really designed to drum up some excitement for NextEV as a company, ahead of the launch of a more consumer-focused electric car next year.
Come see the future: Up close with the world’s fastest electric car

See all photos More

1 of 15 Wayne Cunningham/Roadshow More

1 of 13 Emme Hall/Roadshow More

1 of 27 Andrew Krok/Roadshow More

1 of 27 Tim Stevens/Roadshow More