Electric sports car prototypes are popping up from every corner, including Audi's e-tron, the Mercedes SLS-AMG Electric, BMW's Vision Concept, and of course, there's the limited-production and already doomed Tesla Roadster. At this year's Geneva Motor Show, we'll get to add one more to the list: the Protoscar LAMPO2, unveiled here in full photos and videos.
To call it weird is to do it a disservice. Its lines blend the best of Spyker with the worst of Bertone, with a dollop of Lamborghini on top, and a taste of Dodge Viper inside. This boat-skirted hodgepodge of elements nonetheless comes together to form what might be an interesting vehicle, should it--or its powertrain--ever come to production.
Rated at 408 horsepower and 472 pound-feet of torque, the LAMPO2 combines quick-charging, all-wheel-drive acceleration and a range of up to 124 miles. Zero to 60 mph runs take about 5 seconds according to Protoscar, and its top speed is estimated at 124 mph. It weighs in at 3,488 pounds thanks to a tube-steel chassis with composite body, seats two, and measures just 14 feet long, 74 inches wide, a shade under four feet tall, and has a wheelbase of 95 inches.
Charging for the 32 kilowatt-hour battery pack is handled either by a range of onboard chargers, which can shuffle enough electrons onboard to charge overnight or at work, or an off-board DC fast-charging system that can deliver enough juice to travel 60 miles in just 10 minutes.
Will the Protoscar LAMPO2 ever see anything like regular production? Almost certainly not. But assuming it delivers on its claimed stats, it does show that even smaller companies are finding ways to make electric sports cars work. Now we just have to wait for the big carmakers to find a way to make them profitable.
[Protoscar]
