Carroll Shelby Ultimate Aero EV

Shelby Supercars, or SSC, isn’t as well known as the likes of Bugatti, 

Ferrari or Lamborghini, but it’s a special company for several reasons. 

In addition to holding the world record for the fastest production car, 

the company has just announced it’s developing an all-electric version 

of its Ultimate Aero supercar (pictured) that it hopes will become the 

world’s fastest electric vehicle (EV).

The Ultimate Aero EV, one of the first ‘green’ supercars, will begin 

testing in February next year and is expected to be in full production 

by the fourth quarter of 2009. “I think we can do it faster, leaner and 

cleaner than any other manufacturer,” said SSC founder Jerod Shelby, 

who incidentally bears no relation to legendary race driver and sports 

car developer Carroll Shelby.While final specifications are yet to be fully

disclosed, the company claims the drive train under development 

employs a revolutionary new technology that will allow the car to 

travel for extended periodsyears, in some cases - without needing to 

be recharged.

Power will come from a single 373kW electric motor, which should

enable the Ultimate Aero EV to at least provide impressive acceleration

and top-speed figures, if still short of matching the performance of 

its internal combustion powered sibling. A high performance twin

motor version using two of the 373kW powerplants for a total of 

746kW in either a two or four-wheel drive configuration is also being

 considered.The SSC Ultimate Aero TT, a twin-turbocharged 882kW 

V8-powered production version of the Ultimate Aero, which shares 

the same basic chassis as the Ultimate Aero EV, is the current world

 speed record holder for all production cars. Many think the Bugatti 

Veyron is the record holder, but the Bugatti’s mark of 406.75km/h 

was surpassed by the SSC supercar in September of last year, when 

it averaged 411.76km/h over two passes on a closed stretch of 

highway in the U.S. state of Washington.The actual one-way top

speed achieved was 413.83km/h, but to qualify for world-record 

certification, the run had to be repeated in the opposite direction 

and averaged to arrive at a final number.SSC, in its imitable fashion, 

plans to set a new record with the car by making it the fastest 

electric car in the world.