The Koenigsegg One:1 was the first production car to achieve a megawatt rating, the equivalent of 1,341 horsepower. Now, another Scandinavian supercar has achieved that benchmark, and takes the notion of megawatts more literally.
Unveiled at Top Marques Monaco, the Toroidion boasts the same 1,341 hp as the Koenigsegg, but with an all-electric powertrain.
It was developed by a Finnish engineering firm of the same name, to demonstrate the capabilities of the company’s technology.
The car features all-wheel drive, with one electric motor powering each wheel. It also has a swappable battery pack, similar to what Tesla engineered into the Model S.
In theory, battery swapping could provide a faster alternative to charging electric cars, but it hasn’t caught on yet.
Tesla operates one battery-swapping station in California essentially as a proof-of-concept exercise.
An Israeli company called Better Place attempted to market a battery-swapping service, with cell-plan-like subscriptions that bought access to swapping stations, but it went belly up in 2013.
And whether it’s battery-swap speed or top speed, Toroidion isn’t interested in discussing details of this outlandish supercar.
The company doesn’t even plan to put it into production. The car is purely a demonstration piece, meant to drum up interest in Toroidion’s engineering services.
Toroidion was founded in 2011 in the Finnish town of Raasepori, with the original intention of developing electric powertrains for endurance racing – including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
That obviously hasn’t happened, but Toroidion is currently seeking other applications for its tech.
Given the track record of fully-electric supercars, it’s hard to blame this Finnish company for not diving in head first with a production model of its own.
A Croatian company called Rimac has built a small number of electric supercars, with claimed power outputs of 1,088 hp, an estimated top speed of 190 mph, and a price tag of $980,000.
Mercedes-Benz built an electric version of the defunct SLS AMG, but only offered it to a handful of customers priced at over $500,000.
The first electric supercar to be available in significant quantities will probably be the 2017 Audi R8 e-tron. After a tortured development process, it will be made to order alongside the rest of the new R8 lineup.
