US hypercar manufacturer and tuning firm Hennessey has announced its first electric vehicle, and it’s a wild six-wheel drive ‘hyper GT’ with six wheels and six electric motors.
It’s called the ‘Project Deep Space’, and Hennessey has shown it off in a set of two design sketches.
Inspired by F1 cars of the 1970s and 1980s, each electric motor will produce around 300kW of power according to Hennessey founder and CEO, John Hennessey.
“I’ve been building some of the world’s fastest accelerating vehicles for decades, yet they have always been performance-limited by mechanical grip,” said Mr Hennessey.
Pictured: John Hennessey (left) and Nathan Malinick (right)
“Six-wheeled electric propulsion is the solution.”
These electric motors are being developed with the company’s partner Delta Cosworth, with another partner, Shell Pennzoil, working on coolant and lubricant for the electric hyper GT.
Total system output figures and 0-100km/h times will be revealed at a later date, but Mr Hennessey indicated the Project Deep Space “could be the world’s quickest accelerating four-seat vehicle from 0-200mp/h”.
Only 105 examples of the Project Deep Space will be produced with each example costing around US$3 million (A$4.21 million).
Production of the electric Hyper-GT is slated to commence in 2026 at its facility in Sealy, Texas that currently produces the Venom F5 hypercar.
The Hennessey team is apparently “deep into development and design” according to Mr Hennessey.
The idea for Project Deep Space was conceived in October 2019 when Mr Hennessey drew a sketch on the back of a statement letter at the behest of Hennessey director of design, Nathan Malinick.
Project Deep Space was recently fast-tracked according to Mr Hennessey as he was afraid another automaker would reveal a vehicle with a similar design.
The exterior of the vehicle has a similar elongated silhouette as the Koenigsegg Gemera plug-in hybrid GT and will measure around 5.5 metres long according to Mr Hennessey, longer than a dual-cab Ford Ranger.
This length will help accomodate four passengers, along with four sets of golf clubs and four sets of carry-on luggage.
The Project Deep Space will be constructed with an “ultra-lightweight” carbon-fibre chassis and body panels with large gull-wing doors on both sides.
Inside the electric hyper-GT is another world entirely with “private jet luxury” and a diamond-shaped seating layout.
At the front of the cabin is a centrally-mounted driver’s seat like the McLaren F1 and GMA T.50, along with two passenger seats flanking it.
Towards the rear of the cabin is the so-called Very Very Important Person (VVIP) seat that has a ‘zero-gravity’ mode similar to the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Mr Malinick said the Project Deep Space will be a vehicle that you “want to drive, yet also [want to be] driven in”.
Project Deep Space is part of Hennessey’s plan to introduce three all-new vehicles over the next 10 years and will follow the now sold-out F5 hypercar.
