Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that the details are sketchy on this one. But, on the Vision Motor Corp. website there is a cool little hotrod that caught my eye. This little hotrod is called the Vision Cheetah.
Now, what makes the Vision Cheetah so special? According to their website, “Vision is also in prototype development of the Cheetah, which is intended to be the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell / plug-in electric-powered supercar, featuring: zero emissions, accelerating 0 to 60 MPH faster than production Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches and the battery powered Tesla.”
Now, I’ve pointed out a few hydrogen fuel cell plug-in hybrid vehicles in the past such as the Ford Flexible Series Edge and the VW Space Up Blue, but these are no speed burners. Recently I had talked about the Buckeye Bullet 2 and the Jesse James Streamliner, which are both speed burners, but are not street legal and are not plug-in hybrids.
The Vision Cheetah is unique in that when the production model comes out it will be classified as a zero emission supercar with 0 – 60 mph acceleration of around 2.9 seconds. The Vision Cheetah will also contain 10,000 psi carbon composite hydrogen tanks with an estimated range of 350+ miles.
The Cheetah has a curb weight of 2,640 lbs, puts out 1,350 lbs-ft. of torque and an estimated 425 horsepower. This only proves that you don’t have to give up power and speed to go zero emissions. You don’t have to give up range, either. All you have to give up is the notion that fossil fuels are the future. And then you’ll be free to think beyond the gasoline internal combustion engine box this world has been inside for 100 years.
This car looks exactly like the Factory 5 GTM Supercar. Go here to see the exactness:
You’re right and thanks for pointing that out. The photo of the Vision Cheetah comes from their website. I’ve asked the company for more details about the car a couple of times but have not heard back from them.
I just had a small email conversation with a Lawrence Weisdorn from Vision Industries, Inc. and he confirmed that yes, they did use the Factory 5 GTM Supercar chassis and body for their first prototype and that now they are building a new car from the ground up.
I also asked him about schedule and price point and he said, that they expect to roll out in late Q4 2010 to Q1 2011 with a DOT certified vehicle at the $200k price point.
That’s all I have for now.