Ariel HIPERCAR — rewriting the supercar rulebook

With its gas-turbine-electric HIPERCAR, Somerset's Ariel Motor Company plans to rewrite the supercar rulebook. 

Developing a new car platform from scratch is a huge undertaking. When this also happens to be a radical gas turbine-electric supercar, it would be deemed an extremely ambitious project for a global OEM, let alone a small, independent carmaker from Somerset.

Throw in the small matter of 1,180bhp, four-wheel drive and a physics-defying 0-100mph claim of 3.8 seconds and you’d be forgiven for thinking the concept had been plucked from the realms of fantasy. But the Ariel HIPERCAR is a project that deserves to be taken very seriously indeed.

For a start, Ariel has been realistic about how much it intends to take on. While the fundamentals of the design and development are indeed being handled in-house, the project is supported by an all-star cast of technical partners. Names on the roster include specialist firms such as Delta Motorsport, Equipmake and GKN Hybrid Drive, plus industry heavyweights Alexander Dennis, JCB and Johnson Matthey.