Spanish luxury car brand Hispano-Suiza have tried and failed to make a comeback before, but that’s not stopping them from trying once more. At this year’s Geneva Motor show, they’re showing a fully-electric grand tourer called the ‘Carmen’.
The Hispano Suiza Carmen will pioneer a new segment of cars called ‘hyperlux’: hypercar performance + luxury styling and craftsmanship.
This close-to-production model will be built on a carbon fibre monocoque and be moved by a 1019PS electric motor. There’s no telling which wheels will be driven, but they’re claiming a 0-100km/h time of less than 3 seconds, so all-wheel-drive is a safe bet. It comes with all-round double-wishbone suspension as well torque vectoring.
Hypercar levels of aerodynamic tuning. They’ve used a flat floor, a front splitter and rear diffuser to bring the drag coefficient of 0.325 Cd.
The Hispano-Suiza Carmen utilises a 700 cell Lithium-ion polymer battery pack with its capacity between 80-105 kWh. This ought to ultimately give it a 400km range. The battery pack is T-shaped and serves as a tuned mass damper, which makes the car more stable.
A Barcelona company called QEV technologies is responsible for the design, engineering and production of the Carmen. QEV Technologies already has experience with electric powertrains and motorsport engineering. The final product is expected to be ready by the end of the year with a customer launch set for mid 2020. Only 19 will be made and they’ll each cost upwards of 1.5 million euros.
