The Featherweight Apex AP-0 Is A 650bhp Electric Rocketship

The British-built Apex AP-0 hits 0-62mph in just 2.3 seconds and should manage 320 miles of range, too

Updated: 10 Oct 2024

The Featherweight Apex AP-0 Is A 650bhp Electric Rocketship

You’re not looking at a speculative render or a car from Grand Theft Auto; this is the Apex AP-0, an electric sports car to take on the Rimac C_Two, the Lotus Evija and Pininfarina Battista. It was teased last week, and now the full details have emerged.

It doesn’t have the ridiculous bazillion bhp power figure of the EV hypercar heavy-hitters but, as it weighs just 1,200kg, its 650bhp output means 0-62mph takes just 2.3 seconds. The top speed stands at 190mph. With these figures, you might expect a price tag with lots and lots of zeroes, but it costs £150,000 before taxes - a fraction of the Evija’s price. The AP-0 is a couple of tenths faster than the petrol-powered AP-1, and has 250bhp more.

The AP-0 gets a 90kWh lithium-ion battery pack, which feeds the rear wheels. Considering the battery pack weights 550kg, the car’s low weight is even more impressive, and it has benefits for how far you can travel on a charge, too. When it’s driven carefully (which won’t be very often, we suspect), you can eke up to 320 miles between recharges.

Designed by ex-BMW and Vauxhall designer Guy Colbourne, the Apex AP-0 gets an aggressive look. Ground clearance is just 95mm to clear up airflow, there’s a teardrop-shaped cabin and we’re liking the massive rear fin, like you’d get on a prototype Le Mans car.

Everything else is high-tech, too, with Formula 1-like pushrod suspension and mega carbon-ceramic brakes. These are six-piston units at the front and four-piston at the rear, while adaptive dampers and automatic ride-height adjustment are fitted.

The cabin is pretty stripped out, as you’d expect with the weight figure mentioned above. You and your passenger get carbon-fibre bucket seats, plus there’s a carbon-fibre steering wheel and not too many buttons to press. Besides the wheel controls, everything is taken care of on the low-mounted touchscreen.

You’d expect it to skimp on driver assistance tech, then, but nope. There’s an augmented-reality head-up display, which can show you the best racing line and braking points on a racetrack. We hope it’ll feel like a real-life version of Gran Turismo or Forza. You also get lane-keeping assist, emergency braking and adaptive cruise control.

What do you think of the Apex AP-0?