The Aspark Owl, an electric hypercar made in Japan, recorded a zero to 60 miles per hour time of 1.9 seconds, giving the Tesla Roadster a run for its money.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the new Roadster, the same one that was launched to space aboard the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, will be the fastest production car ever made. However, here comes the Aspark Owl out of nowhere, in a race to become the first street-legal electric supercar with a zero to 60 miles per hour time of below 2 seconds.
The Aspark Owl Goes From 0 To 60 MPH In Less Than 2 Seconds
The Aspark Owl was unveiled at last year's Frankfurt Auto Show, where the Japanese company behind the electric hypercar claimed that it will feature 430 horsepower, 563 all-wheel lb-ft of torque, and weight of less than 1,900 pounds. Aspark also said that the Owl will go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 2 seconds.
However, the Aspark Owl has broken the 2-second mark, with videos uploaded last week showing how the Japanese electric supercar was able to achieve the feat. The "course" chosen for the attempt appears to be nothing more than the parking lot of a warehouse, with the space barely long enough for the Aspark Owl to reach the speed of 100 kilometers per hour, equivalent to 62 miles per hour.
It should be noted that the Aspark Owl was fitted with Hoosier racing tires that were heated up before the attempt with a burnout, and not street-legal tires. In addition, ultra-capacitors provided the power to the Aspark Owl in the test run and not batteries. The production model will use a combination of ultra-capacitors and batteries, which may affect the vehicle's acceleration rate.
Despite these caveats, the Aspark Owl has certainly gotten the attention of the electric car industry worldwide.
Aspark Owl vs Tesla Roadster
Musk claimed that the new Tesla Roadster will also have a zero to 60 miles per hour time of 1.9 seconds, pitting the two electric supercars in competition with one another.
The biggest knock against the Tesla Roadster, however, is not in its capabilities. Tesla has routinely experienced production delays in its electric vehicles, the latest of which involve the mass market Model 3. Musk promised that the new Tesla Roadster will be released by 2020, but there remains a lot of skepticism that the company will be able to meet that target.
The Aspark Owl, meanwhile, will soon launch an initial production run of 50 units soon, so the race between the two electric hypercars may come down to which one enters the market first — that is until price is considered. The regular version of the new Tesla Roadster will cost $200,000, while the Aspark Owl will have a price tag of $4.4 million.
