The annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance weekend has been described as an old-car party for the well-heeled, with an occasional new-car debut sprinkled in. As such, there’s probably no better place for a car such as the all-electric Renovo Motors Coupe—a car that blends vintage packaging with state-of-the-art electric propulsion—to make its first appearance. It’s expected to sell for more than half a million dollars.
You may (or may not) recognize Renovo Motors, started by three entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley, for the awesome wooden bike it developed with Audi back in 2011, one year after the company was conceived. Apparently, Renovo has been developing this car in secret since that time with boutique carmaker Shelby American. Shelby currently sells its CSX9000 coupe (a continuation of the vaunted 1964 Shelby Daytona), the same car used as the basis for the Renovo Coupe.
The Renovo Coupe is essentially a CSX9000 powered by twin sequential axial-flux electric motors mounted in the front of the car with a common crankshaft that sends power to a conventional final-drive gear at the rear axle. Renovo claims that the two motors churn out more than 500 horsepower and 1000 lb-ft of torque, enabling the car to vault from zero to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds on its way to a 120-mph terminal velocity. The range for the car will be 100 miles, says Renovo, while the charging time for the lithium-ion battery pack will be 30 minutes using a fast charger or five hours from a level-2 charger.
With input from Peter Brock, the designer of the original Daytona Coupe, Renovo made a few changes to the body and structural members of the car to accommodate the drivetrain and its three separate battery packs (two in front, one in back). Weight has risen beyond the CSX9000′s figure to about 3250 pounds, says Renovo, but even so, a seasoned member of our staff—technical director Don Sherman—who actually has experience behind the wheel of the original Shelby Daytona, took a ride in the Renovo Coupe in Monterey and said he has “no doubt” that the car can meet Renovo’s performance claims. Sherman went on to describe the Renovo as being much more comfortable and, in some areas, more spacious than the vintage Daytona. Which is damning with faint praise, considering the tight confines of the original.
- Wood You Rather Ride a Bike? Renovo and Audi Partner on Beautiful New 2-Wheeler
- Peter Brock: What I’d Do Differently
- The Shelby Daytona Coupe: The Car that Lived Up to its Legend
Renovo hopes to start building the Coupe in Silicon Valley, California, during the second half of next year. That seems a bit ambitious to us, although the company will certainly benefit from Shelby American’s expertise not just in low-volume vehicle assembly, but also in navigating through legislative red tape. Renovo wouldn’t tell us how many cars it is planning to build, but rest assured: at the expected going price of $529,000, it is bound to be a very small number.
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