Cast your mind back to the summer of 2021 and you might recall us getting excited about a retro EV with a small wheelbase and a big price. Called the ELegend (as in ‘electric legend’) EL1, it was clearly inspired by the 1980s Audi Quattro Sport, but was in fact an all-new car that had nothing to do with Audi.
We’ve not heard much about the car since, and because so many startups crash and burn before getting any traction, a few of you might have thought the project had faded away. Not so, says the ELegend team, which has just announced that it’s begun testing its EV prototype and expects to start production in 2024. Only 30 cars are planned, and they’re priced at a scary €890,000 ($953k) plus tax each.
Related: ELegend EL1 Is An All-Electric Audi Sport Quattro Hommage With 804 HP
Measuring only 96.3-inches (2.45 m) between its axles, the EL1 has a wheelbase that closely matches a Porsche 911’s, but at just 163.4-inches (4.15 m) from bumper to bumper it’s a massive 14.5-inches (0.37 m) shorter overall. The EL1’s bespoke carbon unibody chassis promises massive stiffness and also helps keep the curb weight down to something approaching ICE-like levels. ELegend says the all-wheel drive EV weighs 3,946 lbs (1,790 kg) without a driver.
Though the EL1 looks at first glance to be unchanged from when we first saw it a couple of year ago, the firm’s designers and engineers have refined both the style and mechanical package. The latest renders show a new style of door handle, exterior mirrors to satisfy U.S. regulators and the glass roof is shaped like a NACA duct.
There are more changes under the skin where the promised tri-motor drivetrain has been downgraded to a dual-motor setup, though the overall promised power output is unchanged at 600 kW (805 hp / 816 PS). That’s enough to get the EL1 to 62 mph (100 kmh) in 2.8 seconds, 124 mph (200 kmh) in 7.5 and to deliver a 186 mph (300 kmh) top speed. An 80 kWh battery can be charged at up to 200 kW using a rapid DC supply or at 22 kW via the onboard charger and ELegend says there’s enough juice on a full charge to allow two hot laps of the Nurburgring without any loss of power.
The company hasn’t said how many cars it has pre-sold, but it’s already got plans for two more projects, each again limited to 30 units, and no doubt equally as expensive.
