This $41,000 China-Only EV Sports Car Has All The Right Specs
Image: SSC
Chinese start-up SSC says it will be unveiling a brand-new customer-ready electric sports car for deliveries later this year. It’s called the SC-01, and if everything the company is saying about the car is true, it could be the most exciting driver-focused electric car since the original Tesla Roadster. The specs sound damn near perfect with 429 horsepower on tap in a car weighing just about 2866 pounds. The manufacturer says the car will be about the size of an Alpine A110 or Audi TT, making it pretty dang small by today’s standards.
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Image: SSC
The battery in the SSC SC-01 is mounted in the middle behind the driver, where it should be, likely giving the car pretty great dynamics similar to a mid-engine gas sports car. It’ll be all-wheel drive with a single motor mounted on each axle. With four-wheel traction, and 429 horsepower, the SC-01 is said to run the 0-60 sprint in just 3.9 seconds.
Image: SSC
SSC hasn’t said exactly how large the battery in this car is going to be, but it claims to have achieved 310 miles of range on the NEDC test cycle. That’s a more generous test than the typical WLTP cycle, so expect real world range to be a bit less.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the announcement is the price tag. SSC claims the SC-01 will hit the market for just ¥300,000, which is about $41,000 at current exchange rates. In order to hit that price point, the company is building the car with an extremely basic interior lacking regular infotainment. It’s a back-to-basics kind of sports car without much to distract the driver from the task at hand. Unfortunately, the company is currently only focused on the Chinese market with no plans to export the car to any other countries. If it helps swing that decision, I’ll order one right now.
Image: SSC
The SC-01 is a strange-looking machine, pulling inspiration from many other automakers throughout history. I see a little bit of Corvette, some Lamborghini, Lancia Stratos [particularly at the back], and maybe even a bit of Koenigsegg in the design. And all of that design has been shrunk down to a compact sports coupe a size smaller than a Toyota 86 or Porsche Cayman. I love it, and will defend it to the death.
