Last year Piëch Automotive presented its first model, the Piëch Mark Zero electric supercar. A vehicle whose development was driven by Anton Piëch, son of Ferdinand Piëch (former president of the Volkswagen Group) and great-grandson of Ferdinand Porsche (creator of the Volkswagen Beetle, the first car of the German company, and the Porsche brand).
This model, whose arrival on the market is scheduled for 2022, will be based on its design platform, while its batteries will be provided by the German company Desten, based in Hong Kong. According to the company, the pack will feature revolutionary design and highly efficient thermal properties, allowing the cells to be cooled effectively with air rather than liquid.
Mark Zero has three electric motors (one on the front axle and two on the rear) of 204 hp (150 kW). Initially, it was expected to have around 310 miles of autonomy. Its top speed will be 250 km/h, and it will be able to complete 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.2 seconds.
In terms of charging, the vehicle is expected to recover 80% of its range (248 miles) in just four minutes and forty seconds, a figure that makes us think of solid electrolyte batteries. The ultra-fast charging infrastructure of the model will be in charge of the German-Chinese company TGOOD, which will supply domestic chargers backed by batteries. This will provide the sports car with high powers without modifying the electrical infrastructure thanks to the energy that will accumulate the packs.
Desten’s Chief Operating Officer Andrew Whitworth stated at the time regarding this technology: “Due to the ongoing patenting process, we are unable to provide more detailed information on our lithium-ion cells at this time. This is what I can reveal: We created a cell in which significantly higher currents can flow, with almost no heat being generated during charging and discharging, making the process much more efficient.
Everything works: our cells have been tested and certified by the TÜV (German Technical Inspection Association), the renowned systems provider Hofer Powertrain, working for well-known car manufacturers, and the University of Esslingen. We are now concentrating on the serial production of our batteries. These claims were backed up by a series of scans from the different certification tests of its batteries.”
Now, Piëch Automotive has received the support of Matthias Müller, former CEO of Volkswagen and Porsche, a guarantee of this very interesting project’s viability. Thus, Müller has become the new chairman of the board of the company. “I was spontaneously excited by the vision of the two founders because it is more consistent and more visionary than all the new approaches that I encountered during my work in the automotive industry. This approach deserves all efforts.”