By Edward Niedermeyer
September 25, 2008 -
Our fearless leader has noted at least once that a RUF-fettled Porsche Boxster would always have a home in his heart. And though he’s never gone (quite) as far as calling global warming a crock of shit, we think that RUF’s latest eco-friendly offering might just be enough to make him stop worrying and love the environmental movement. Oh, did we mention that the latest Ruf Cayman offering is all-electric? That’s right, the infamous German tuning house is developing a lithium-ion powered mid-engined sportscar that has nothing to do with the Lotus Elise! With 204 hp and 480 lb-ft of zero-rpm torque, the RUF Cayman should hop from 0 - 60 in about four seconds, top out at 120 and have a range of 155-188 miles. Though carbon-neutral drag races with a Tesla might leave the RUF a little chastened (giving up 35kW of power to the Roadster as it does), RUF has an established clientele base and price-poit expectations that Tesla would kill for. Plus, with Detroit Electric, Dodge and Tesla all showing off EV variations on the Elise theme, the Cayman EV stands alone. As an everyday car, it’s also eminently more practical, useable and better looking too. Being a RUF, it will also cost several appendages and depreciate faster than the Zimbabwean dollar. Look for a concept unveiling sometime in October, with production and pricing to be announced.
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POWERED
September 25th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Electric Cayman Birthwatch? Just for comparison’s sake. And laughs because, you know, the Germans will actually git ‘er dun.
September 25th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Isn’t that gitterdun in German?
What I still don’t understand is how Clarkson thinks this car is unattractive.
September 25th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I’d give my right arm to have one, being I wouldn’t need to shift it or anything…
September 25th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Landcrusher, I believe it’s gitterdunen
September 25th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
shaker: Hell yeah, just throw a necking knob on there…
September 25th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Is this an example of Vorsprung von Teknik or whatever it’s called?
September 25th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Shocking!!!!
/had to be done
September 25th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Good.
September 25th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Well, RUF gets bonus points for originality there… we’ll see how it rides soon enough…
September 25th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Vorsprung durch Technik is how they say it in Ingolstadt Areitu, but in this case it could be Tesla’s Götterdämmerung should it be successful and taken up by the Volk in Stuttgart.
–chuck
September 26th, 2008 at 1:44 am
Another application of the AC Propulsion drivetrain? Is there a way to find out, other than “ein Anruf bei Ruf”?
September 26th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Yay, another electric car that 1) will actually make it to market and 2) isn’t a Zap or a ZENN or some other ridiculous golf-cart sort of thing.
September 26th, 2008 at 11:33 am
I’ve been watching this guy for some time…
http://www.metricmind.com/