Chinese automakers are attacking on all fronts of the electric vehicle market, from tiny city cars to ultra-luxurious and spacious minivans.
But they also want to show the world their know-how when it comes to building high-performance EVs that can rival Tesla’s Model S and Model X Plaid or the Lucid Air Sapphire.
In September, Geely launched the Zeekr 001 FR, a quad-motor mid-size liftback with 1,265 horsepower (943 kilowatts) that’s said to sprint from zero to 62 miles per hour in 2.07 seconds ‘in a rolling start scenario.’ All for a price of under $140,000 in China – less than a Model S Plaid.
Now, it looks like Human Horizons wants a piece of that high-performance EV market too, as the company founded in 2017 by the former president of SAIC-GM David Ding has taken its existing HiPhi Z through a comprehensive styling and performance makeover.
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Actually, so many things have changed in the process that Human Horizons decided to give the car a different name, the HiPhi A. The letter is a tribute to Apollo Automobil, a German sports car manufacturer currently owned by China’s WeSail New Energy Automotive that has supplied the vehicle’s aerodynamic elements.
The ‘standard’ HiPhi Z looks like a wild concept car, and yet the HiPhi A manages to take things up a notch. The electric super sedan boasts more aggressive bumpers with motorsport-inspired aero elements, a massive fixed rear wing towering above the rear window, high-performance aluminum wheels shod with extra wide tires, carbon-ceramic brakes, and lots of carbon fiber elements.
Like the Z, it has exterior screens on the side of the passenger doors that can be used to send custom messages to other road users.
Inside, the connection to the HiPhi Z is even more obvious, with the A featuring the same dashboard layout. The high-tech ambiance consists of digital screens for the rearview cameras, ambient lighting, and a 15-inch touchscreen that is 8-way adjustable via a multi-axis robot arm, the HiPhi Bot.
Surely there’s something spectacular under this concept car-like body, right? Oh yeah! As with the HiPhi Z, the A is built on an 800-volt platform, but it is the brand’s first vehicle to feature in-house-developed battery pack and motors.
While no battery capacity or range estimates are available for now, the automaker said the battery can discharge 1.5 megawatts of power at its peak. Human Horizons also revealed that the battery features a carbon fiber bullet-proof bottom shield and a fireproof sprayed carbon fiber top cover – both claimed to be industry firsts.
The battery powers a tri-motor AWD powertrain that delivers a combined 1,287 horsepower (960 kilowatts). Each motor makes 429 hp (320 kW) – one on the front axle and two on the rear.
Thanks to a carbon-fiber rotor design, full oil-cooling, and magnetic cylinder coil direct-cooling technology, the motors are said to reach a maximum speed of 22,000 rpm for more than 30 minutes at a time. The performance that derives from this is staggering. The HiPhi A is said to rocket from 0 to 62 mph in just over 2 seconds and its targeted top speed is almost 186 mph.
In addition, the front-to-rear axle weight ratio close to 50:50 and the HiPhi Vectoring Control (HVC) torque vectoring control system are said to improve cornering by 15 percent and braking performance by 10 percent – the automaker didn’t say compared to what; we assume the HiPhi Z.
Performance aside, the HiPhi A is a technological tour de force, featuring advanced chassis tech like rear-wheel active steering and CDC continuously variable damping, as well as materials like aircraft grade TC4 titanium alloy for exterior and interior trim, nano-ceramics, and other materials in the chassis.
The company also plans to use 3D printing technology for the HiPhi A in collaboration with the Intelligent Manufacturing System Center of ShanghaiTech University.
The HiPhi A will be built and delivered from the first quarter of 2025 in a limited-run series. Expect it to cost significantly more than the HiPhi Z, which starts at 105,000 euros ($114,000 in Europe). The electric hypercar will make its public debut at the Guangzhou Auto Show on November 17.