Piech Automotive has begun testing its first production car, the Piech GT electric sportscar, ahead of a market launch in 2024.
The company, co-founded by Toni Piech – a son of the late VW Group chairman Ferdinand Piech – also plans a sporty electric SUV and an electric sedan, both of which will be built on the same modular platform as the GT.
Following the stunning debut of the Piech Mark Zero electric sports car concept at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, progress is being made on the first production model under the project name Piech GT.
“Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, we have managed to overcome the resulting delays and keep our project fully on track. The financing rounds to date have been successful, and we can now confidently continue our journey towards market launch,” says Toni Piech, co-founder and CEO of Piech Automotive.
The Piech GT is powered by a 75kWh battery pack and three electric motors – one mounted on the front axle and two on the rear for a combined 450 kW (603 hp) and a claimed (0-100 km/h) 0–62mph time of less than 3 seconds. Piech also says the GT will get from (0-200 km/h) 0–124mph in under 9 seconds.
Total range is said to be 500km (311 miles). The Piech GT can be charged to 80 percent capacity in eight minutes at any CCS2 fast charging station. A fast charger specially developed by EV charging technology company TGOOD enables this process to be completed in under five minutes.
Klaus Schmidt, chief developer at Piech Engineering (Germany) GmbH, previously spent more than 30 years heading up BMW’s high-performance department at M GmbH. He brings with him a wealth of valuable experience that has had a very positive impact so far, both on the development and quality of the technical components and on the production of the first prototype, as initial tests have now shown.
“The second prototype will be completed by next March, with a further series of prototypes to follow before the end of 2022. Based on the test results from these prototypes, another batch of prototypes will then be built in 2023. Piech is exactly following the tried-and-tested testing cycles of German premium manufacturers here, with trials in heat and dust, in sub-zero temperatures with ice and snow, and on demanding roads and racetracks such as the Nürburgring Nordschleife, to be able to meet our target of starting series production in 2024,” says Klaus Schmidt, outlining the company’s ambitious targets.
[source: Piech Automotive]
