Electric cars have evolved. Sales have increased due to increased affordability, more adoption of cleaner energy and other benefits like government incentives through price reduction. Electric car manufacturers have also upped the ante in the quality of production which recently resulted in an electric car winning the “ultimate car of the year” award by US-based Motor Trend Magazine ahead of other highly rated internal combustion engine – ICE – cars.
Electric cars are becoming cheaper to acquire and maintain when compared with ICE cars. However, some electric cars have high price tags due to their performance, rarity, and luxury on offer among other considerations. Here we check out the 10 most expensive electric cars ever made.
10 ASTON MARTIN RAPIDE
Aston Martin RapidE is Aston Martin’s grand entrance into the electric cars’ party. Work started on this project in 2015 and at the 2018 Frankfurt Motor Show, the British automobile company confirmed it will start production in the fourth quarter of 2019.
RapidE will be fitted with a 65 kWh battery capable of 800-volt. Alongside this are two electric motors to power the wheels with a total power output of 602 hp and 700 lb-ft of torque. This electric car will expectedly do 0-60 mph in less than 4 seconds and will sell for $255,000.
9 LIGHTNING GT
Lightning Car Company, a British car manufacturing company that has a major focus on producing high-performance electric sports cars unveiled the Lightning GT at the 2008 Excel London Motor Show where it won the Car of The Show. The Lightning GT has a finely carved carbon fiber body and uses a specially made quick-charging lithium-titanate.
The GT does a distance of 60 miles in less than 4 seconds and is expected to have a range of 150 miles on a single charge. The production is planned for 2019 and the car costs $300,000.
8 MERCEDES-BENZ SLS AMG ELECTRIC DRIVE
Mercedes Benz obviously won’t allow itself to be short out of the electric cars frenzy, hence, at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, it came out with an electric masterpiece of its own in the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG electric drive. Coming with a $550,000 price tag, this car is powered by four electric motors that produce 740 hp and 738 lb-ft.
It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds and has a liquid-cooled 400 V lithium-ion battery that delivers a range of 160 miles. Mercedes produced less than 100 units of this electric car.
7 GENOVATION GXE
When a powerful electric motor is fitted in an empty frame and body of the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport, the result is the Genovation GXE – or at least that’s what the manufacturer named it. Genovation is an American based electric car manufacturing company based in Rockville, Maryland and it launched the GXE at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Expo in Las Vegas.
Genovation GXE electric motor does 800 hp and 718 lb-ft of torque that led it to a world record for the world’s first street-legal electric car to exceed 220mph. It sells for $750,000.
6 RIMAC CONCEPT ONE
The Rimac Concept One is a high-performance electric car designed by Rimac Automobili of Croatia and it became the world’s fastest electric car after it was produced in January 2013. This car does 1224 hp and acceleration from 0-100km/h in 2.5 seconds with a maximum range of 350 km.
The Rimac One features a carbon fiber constructed body and an interior made of best of quality leather upholstery with a unique hand-made dashboard component. Jeremy Clarkson drove it and claimed it was faster than the Lamborghini Aventador. It costs $980,000 to own one.
5 RIMAC C TWO
The Rimac C Two is the best one yet from the stable of the Croatian electric supercar manufacturer, Rimac Automobili. After developing the Rimac Concept One which many enthusiasts considered to be the best and fastest sports car ever, the Rimac team at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show unveiled what they believe is their best production car yet, the C Two.
With a better powertrain than its predecessor, only 150 units of this car will be built and if you haven’t yet placed an order then it’s too late – it sold out in less than three weeks for $1,977,150 each.
4 LOTUS EVIJA
Lotus, a Chinese-owned British car manufacturing company – Lotus Cars – is credited for the production of the Lotus Evija which also is the first in their foray into electric car production. The project is codenamed Type 130 which also indicates that only 130 units of this car will be built.
A 70 kWh battery is used to power the car while the four wheels have dedicated motors each with an individual power rating of 493 and a combined output of 1970 hp and 1254 lb-ft of torque. It claims to accelerate from 0-62 mph in 3 seconds and costs $2,100,000.
3 PININFARINA BATTISTA
The Pininfarina Battista has both German and Italian influence as the company’s headquarter is located in Munich, Germany, but the main idea originated from Italian car design firm Pininfarina SpA. Built as a tribute to the company founder, Battista Farina, the electric car was unveiled to the public at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show.
The Battista electric motor has a combined motor output of 1,877 hp and 1,696 lb-ft of torque. It claims to do 0-62 mph in 2 seconds. 40% of its planned 150 production units have been paid for while the production date has been set to 2020. The Pininfarina Battista costs $2,300,000.
2 NIO EP9
It took just 18 months for the development and deployment of the EP9 by its manufacturer – the Shanghai-based Chinese automobile company, NIO. The EP9 is built to have individual motor and transmission for each wheel that translates to a total power output of 1,341 hp.
It’s specially made battery’s 265 miles range, 45 minutes recharge time and 8 minutes battery replacement time is among the best on offer. The EP9 does 0-62 mph in 2.7 seconds and has a top speed of 217 mph. NIO investors own the first six manufactured EP9 for $3,222,650 each.
1 ASPARK OWL
The Japanese engineering firm, Aspark in 2018 started a project they hope will produce the world’s fastest accelerating electric car – this resulted in the development of the Aspark OWL. The Owl got its public unveiling at the November 2019 Dubai International Motor Show.
The Aspark OWL is incredibly light due to the use of carbon fiber for its bodywork and also has a carbon fiber monocoque chassis weighing 120 kg. It can do 0-60 mph in 1.69 seconds making it the world’s fastest accelerating production car. Only 50 units of the OWL will be produced for $3,229,200 each and production starts in 2020.