Let’s be honest here, Finland isn’t exactly known for its exotic car arsenal.  That is what the Swedes are famed for, right?  Well, that may be on the threshold of changing, with the ERA (Electric Race About) car (pictured below, surrounded by future James Bonds). Oh yes, it is a carbon fiber luxury hybrid car, and it is gorgeous!  Who says nerds can’t be sexy.

Finland is known for its electronic exports and ships, which means they are obviously familiar with making cool and techy things.  So why not a spectacle of a luxury hybrid, which happens to be the popular thing to do at the moment?

To make matters cooler, the Electric Race About car will be competing in the Automotive X-Prize competition this fall.  A luxury hybrid race?  We are electrified, wait til Nascar hears about this.

The drivetrain of the ERA car has been designed around existing architecture.  The chassis is half the weight of a conventional car (nods to carbon fiber) and there is no transmission, just a computer-controlled vehicle drive system that controls the four individual wheel motors.  Other specs of the hybrid ERA include:

•    Four electric motors
•    Lithium ion battery packs
•    Weight of 2,750 pavement-pounding pounds
•    Top speed of 120 miles per hour
•    Target operational range of around 180 miles between chargings
•    Even front-to-back weight distribution and low center of gravity

Yes, we would estimate that those long winters trapped indoors led the engineers at the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences to create such an awesome slice of electric artillery.  If it reaches production, it will likely be quite a pricey piece of luxury hybrid heaven.

Post by Imagine Lifestyles Luxury Rentals