SEMA: Assault with battery
Can it do a burnout? Careful what you ask for from Chevy's little Spark EVAnything goes as long as it goes. Keep it in mind, because Chevrolet has given a peak to the future and perhaps didn’t realise it.
The little electric Spark isn’t memorable -- and is unlikely to be sold in Australia any time soon -- but Chevy showed just how easy tweaking an electric vehicle can be. You won’t even get your hands dirty.
From 540Nm at the wheels in standard form, this Spark concept puts as much as 600Nm to the road, more than a 10 per cent performance boost.
What’s worth mentioning is that the EV delivers most of its torque at zero revs, so throttle response is almost instant.
So simple is the modification that it can be done at a dealership service centre by an apprentice. This is, indeed, the future of performance.
Chevy claims the tweaking is done by changing the power-delivery algorithm. For the future, dialling up more torque from the driver’s seat could be as straight forward as adjusting the cold setting on the air-con. It gives real meaning to power and economy modes.
The downside is a cruising range of only 130km. The upside is 0-100km/h acceleration in around seven seconds.
The concept wears soft-compound rubber and a set of significantly stronger axles to complete the package. The quiet little assassin will wreck a few muscle-car egos, and it does a perfect two-tyre burnout.
Upscale the idea with a big-Watt motor, an additional stack of battery cells and all-wheel drive, and it’s an electrifying future we’ll all look forward to.
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