California-based EV startup Drako Motors updated us on its test program ahead of the start of deliveries of its Drako GTE electric supercar.
Scroll down for some impressive footage of the $1.2 million electric vehicle driving in the snow.
We have been following Drako over the last two years.
While the company’s first vehicle, the Drako GTE, doesn’t do much to accelerate EV adoption with a $1.2 million sticker price, it’s still an interesting vehicle due to being equipped with the first quad-motor electric powertrain.
I took a ride in it on the racetrack last year, and I was extremely impressed with the cornering power of that machine.
The Drako GTE is equipped with 90 kWh battery pack, 150 kW fast-charging capacity, and four electric motors, one at each wheel, that power range of +225 kW to -225 kW.
It enables some pretty insane torque vectoring that makes the car feel like an agile railgun on the track.
Obviously, it would also translate to some great performance on snowy and icy surfaces, but people who buy $1 million supercars generally don’t use them in those conditions.
That’s OK, because Drako decided to winter test the Drako GTE at Winter Performance Track in Steamboat Springs, Colorado:
To demonstrate the GTE’s capabilities ahead of the first customer deliveries this year, we handed the car off to racing driver Andy Pilgrim and let him loose on the Winter Performance Track, sitting above 6,700’ elevation in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Pilgrim powers the GTE through deep, rutted snow, connecting corners with high-speed, tail-out slides that belie its ease of control. Watch the front wheels as Pilgrim enters and maintains each slide, paying special attention to how few corrections he makes, and how little steering angle is needed to rotate the car. Pilgrim is able to guide the steering wheel with his fingertips thanks to the GTE’s lightning-quick responses to driver input and traction conditions. Notice, too, how well the car rides over the deeply marred surface despite Pilgrim’s merciless pace, with no perceptible roll and very little pitch or heave, the suspension expertly soaking up the terrain whether sliding into and through a corner or sending four plumes of snow skyward on its way out.
The test produced some very impressive footage of the Drako GTE on the snow:
And on the ice:
Drako explains how its quad-motor powertrain helps in the snow:
Unlike a one-, or two-, or even three-motor electric car, or a combustion-powered car, the GTE’s four motors mean each wheel responds individually to the driver’s commands, even spinning backward if needed. Because each wheel can react independently, and because of the ultrafast DriveOS system controlling it, the GTE’s responses are beyond catlike. The speed of the control-response loop generates a sense of connectedness unlike anything you’ve experienced in any other car, allowing you to make full use of the GTE’s 1,200-horsepower and prodigious 6,500 lb-ft of torque in any situation.
The automaker says that the first customer Drako GTE vehicles are currently in production with the first deliveries planned for later this year.
Drako has previously disclosed that they plan to produce only 25 Drako GTEs.
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Author: Fred Lambert
Source: Electrek
