If you’re launching a new electric car company, you’ll want to have an eye-catching design, a few insane-sounding statistics and a flashy presentation to create a bit of buzz around your launch. At this stage, physically building the car isn’t important. And I’m pleased to report that another EV upstart has ticked off all these steps with the unveiling of a 2,000 hp electric SUV that it says will hit 322 km/h.
The car is the Dragon from California-based EV startup Drako Motors. The firm is still developing its first car, the Fikser Karma-based Drako GTE, and has now outlined plans for its second model.
The GTE hasn’t made it into the hands of consumers just yet, but the firm says it is ready to start work on a second model. So, here we are with the Drako Dragon.
It looks pretty mad. The teaser images released by the brand show an angular front end, gullwing doors and an intricate rear lighting array. There’s also an intense-looking hood scoop, and some winglets at the rear to aid airflow.
That aggressive body, which was penned by the firm’s chief designer Lowie Vermeersch, is planned to be constructed almost entirely out of carbon fibre. Inside, the firm is also promising oodles of leather in a cabin that it says will have a “unique layout and easy ingress/egress.”
So that’s the eye-catching design taken care of, what about a few bonkers specs?
Well the Drako Dragon has that too. As well as the aforementioned claim that it’ll have 2,000 hp and will hit a top speed of 322 km/h, the firm also claims it’ll be able to “run the quarter mile in 9.0 seconds” and hit “90 kmh in 1.9 seconds.” Pretty impressive for a computer render.
All that performance is thanks to an in-house battery system and a quad-motor powertrain. Both of which were refined with the development of he GTE.
While the San Jose-based startup previously said it would only build 25 examples of the GTE, this Dragon sounds like it’s set to be a more widely available offering. The press release announcing its launch discusses “industrial economies of scale,” which makes it sound like they’ll be shipping more than a few dozen.
Further details of the Drako Dragon are expected later this year, when the firm also says it will open reservations for the electric SUV.
There’s no word on how much it could cost. But, the firm says it will offer that attractive design, bougie interior and impressive performance figures for “about the same price as the alternatives.” Whatever that means.