A 21-year-old entrepreneur is attempting to build India's first supercar that will be made from lighter and cheaper material than carbon fiber, will be equipped with a hybrid engine, and will use fingerprint-recognition technology to start the ignition.
Sarthak Paul founded the company Mean Metal Motors that aims at creating the first-ever supercar from India. The entrepreneur's first model is called M-Zero, which he hopes will be ready to show to the public at the 2016 Paris Auto Show.
The M-Zero will have an aerodynamic body made from the company's smart "carbo-flax" material to make it lightweight, and which is lighter and significantly cheaper than carbon fiber, Paul says. This will enable MMM to sell the material to India satellite-building companies to fund production costs on the supercar.
Paul wants the M-Zero to compete with some of the world's fastest cars. So that means his supercar will go from zero to 60 mph in less then three seconds, with a top speed of 200 mph. Under the hood will be a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 gasoline engine that will produce more than 500 horsepower and 700 Nm of torque for optimal performance and handling, and a small electric motor with a cooling liquid lithium-ion battery pack with an energy storage of kWh and 180 V voltage to give a power output of 200 horsepower through the motor with a max torque of 270 Nm.
The vehicle will use fingerprint-recognition technology to start the engine, which would also recognize the driver's profile and activate any preferred settings, such as their driving playlist or seat position.
But to make this supercar prototype a reality, MMM will need help from Indian venture capitalists. Plus, it will take months or even years, Paul said, for the advanced engine and hybrid motor technology to be developed and tested.
When and if the M-Zero ever makes it to the streets it will have a hefty price tag of somewhere between $125,000 to $150,000 before taxes.
Source: CNN Money
