You may have never heard the name Peter Stevens, but you're undoubtedly familiar with some of the cars he's designed: exotics like the McLaren F1, Jaguar XJR-15, and Lotus Esprit and Elan. And now he's lent his talents to another British supercar. Only this time it's all electric. The Dendrobium D-1, for the uninitiated, is about as light as a super-EV can be. Offsetting the inherent heft of the battery pack, it's built around a carbon monocoque construction similar to what he (and Gordon Murray) pioneered on the McLaren F1.
So while it may be heftier than an internal-combustion (or even hybrid) McLaren, at 1,750 kg (3,858 lbs), it's a fair bit lighter than a Tesla Model S or Rimac's Concept_One or C_Two.
It's not the first time Stevens has worked on an electric vehicle, having laid the aesthetic groundwork for the Rivian R1T. But this project is an altogether more performance-focused proposition, closer in spirit to the aforementioned supercars he's worked on before – to say nothing of the Le Mans-winning BMW V12 LMR, a handful of Subaru rally cars, and various MGs and Rovers.
Dendrobium D-1 Will Be Built In The UK And Not In Singapore
The electric hypercar concept – Dendrobium D-1 – from Singapore’s Vanda Electrics may find itself rolling out from a facility in the UK. Brexit has made life difficult for a lot of people and has even prompted some aspiring carmakers to consider building facilities outside the UK. As companies like Dyson are drawing up plans […] The post Dendrobium D-1 Will Be Built In The UK And Not In Singapore appeared first on The Supercar Blog.
The new British all-electric hypercar maker Dendrobium Automotive Limited recently made its UK public debut to huge acclaim within the stunning surroundings of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England.
The 1,800hp Dendrobium D-1 wowed the guests at the 2018 Salon Privé garden party event, the model attracting enormous interest and admiring glances.
Inspired by nature and rooted in technology, the Dendrobium D-1 fuses a respect for the environment with a design-driven approach to engineering, the car being developed in the UK with the support and expertise of the celebrated Formula 1 company Williams Advance Engineering.
As Salon Privé garden party guests discovered first-hand, the Dendrobium D-1’s design challenges the visual sense of viewers, while drawing out intrigue among the more discerning admirers. The D-1’s delicate marriage of futuristic lines and curves casts dramatic shadows, reflecting the soothing texture of aluminium, carbon fibre and glass, to create a truly distinctive machine that looks like no other supercar or hypercar in the world.
Dendrobium’s focus on having technology embodied in sculpture is a testament to the British marque’s endless pursuit of quality in terms of thought, design and build. With a target weight of just 1,750kgs, the carbon fiber D-1, with its superlight and super strong advance composites and alloys, will represent the true feel of a supercar, not too big and heavy, allied to impressive linear performance, and re-writing the rules for the hypercar ownership experience.
The lightweight construction of the D-1 is based on a unique Protocell carbon tub which has been skillfully engineered with future adaptability for further generations of Dendrobium e-performance cars. In addition to its advanced vehicle technology, the D-1 has enormous drama and presence thanks to its unique Bio-Aerial Locomotion door and roof opening system, which is inspired by the Dendrobium orchid plant which unfurls naturally in a similar manner, from which the new British hypercar company takes its name.
The D-1’s interior is designed around the driver as the absolute center of attention. Contrasting with the predominantly black carbon fiber interior, the red body-hugging drivers’ sports seat features stitching and motifs inspired by human muscle fibers.
The Dendrobium design team has had conceptual sketches of an electric hypercar on the drawing boards since the mid-1990s, a vision that was many years ahead of its time. As electric technology has advanced, Dendrobium has been able to revisit this vision and now, as the Company launches its revolutionary global e-mobility strategy, the timing is finally right to take the wraps off a halo working prototype model, as displayed to astonished admirers within the beautiful grounds on Blenheim Palace at Salon Privé.
Ahead of the first production examples of the all-electric 1,800bhp D-1, a number of significant and exciting developments at Dendrobium Automotive will be announced shortly, with full details to be confirmed over the coming months.
