Aim’s EV Sport 01 Will Participate in Next Week’s Goodwood Hill Climb – Robb Report

Aim doesn’t just want to show off the striking design of its new EV concept at the Goodwood Festival of Speed—it wants to show what the car can actually do.

The Japanese motorsport company plans to tackle the event’s famous hill with its new EV Sport 01 Concept next week. The marque is so confident in the battery-powered coupé’s capabilities that CEO Yukinori Suzuki plans to sit behind the wheel for the timed run up the winding 1.16-mile course.

Of course, any discussion about the concept must start with its distinctive look. The car was styled by Shiro Nakamura, who was head of design at Nissan from 1999 to 2017, according to Car and Driver. If you’re familiar with his work—which includes the R35-generation GT-R—you’ll immediately recognize the coupé’s clean, flowing lines. The low-slung vehicle is relatively compact, measuring less than 13 feet bumper to bumper, and should cut through the air with ease. Nifty details, such as a perforated grille panel and a striking set of butterfly doors, add even more flair to the design.

The exterior’s minimalism carries over to a leather-covered interior, which is relatively spartan compared to most production EVs. Notably, there’s no infotainment screen perched atop the two-seater’s center stack, though the cockpit has digital displays that will help the driver monitor the vehicle and journey.

The EV Sport 01 is powered by a dual-motor powertrain that delivers 483 hp and 546 ft lbs of torque to the rear axle. That’s right, this battery-powered sports car has rear-wheel drive, not all-wheel drive like so many of its fully electric peers. The setup gets its juice from an 81-kWh lithium-ion battery that’s split into four packs. Range is an unimpressive 186 miles per charge, according to Motor1.com, but that shouldn’t come into play during a hill climb. The combined weight of the battery packs is offset by an aluminum frame and the liberal use of carbon fiber, thanks to which the EV has a curb weight of just 3,142 pounds.

The EV Sport 01 may have made its debut earlier this spring, but next week will be its biggest showcase yet. Response could also help influence whether the concept ever becomes a reality. Aim hasn’t announced plans to build a production version of the vehicle yet, but it has admitted to at least looking into the possibility. Stay tuned.