Skip to main content

The $529,000 Renovo Coupe will do smoky burnouts around a Tesla Model S

Tesla's Model S, the mascot for the modern electric vehicle, is a fine family hauler. In fact, it's a very quick one: it'll race from 0 to 60 in just 4.2 seconds when equipped with the 85 kilowatt-hour performance drivetrain, which is faster than just about everything else on the road shy of exotics and high-end sports cars. But a new startup — based right in Tesla's backyard — is poised to make the Model S look a bit slow.

The simply-named Coupe comes from Renovo, which says it has been working on the car and its drivetrain in "stealth mode" for the last four years. If it looks familiar, it should: it's basically a Shelby Daytona with the gasoline-sucking bits replaced by a crazy electric drivetrain promising over 500 horsepower and 1,000 ft-lb. of torque (by comparison, the Model S tops out at 416hp and 443 ft-lb.). That's enough to move it from 0 to 60 in "under" 3.4 seconds, according to Renovo's literature.

Of course, a direct comparison to the Model S sedan isn't really fair — this is a sports car through and through, and it's a testament to the fact that EVs aren't just for normals who want to save on gas. (It's also easy to forget that Tesla itself cut its teeth on a tiny two-place roadster.) Renovo is promising a 30-minute fast charge, a top speed north of 120mph, and a 100-mile range — well short of the 200-plus needed to turn this into a long-haul daily driver. For the wealthy buyers the company is likely targeting at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance this weekend, though, this isn't a first car — it's a second or third.

Renovo is promising the first Coupe deliveries in 2015; in the meantime, see the full photo gallery below. Pre-sales of the half-million dollar exotic begin this weekend.

1/12