What's all this about?
You’ve never heard of AIM, but that’s fine, because nor has anyone else outside of motorsport. The Japanese company, however, has announced an enthusiast-orientated electric sports car that it plans to unveil at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Dubbed the EV Sport 01, it’s a rear-wheel-drive coupe with around 600hp and a kerb weight of under 1,500kg.
Sounds tasty...
It does indeed. The car is currently undergoing testing and evaluation for a “potential limited series production run”. If and when the new model does go on sale, it’s expected to come with around 600hp, all of which will go to the back wheels in true sports car fashion. With a kerb weight of 1,500kg, that will give the EV Sport 01 a power-to-weight ratio noticeably better than that of a Porsche 911 GT3.
Equally promising is the mechanical engineering used to achieve that, which includes a multi-tubular aluminum frame with double-wishbone front and rear suspension, as well as a carbon-fibre tub and carbon laminate body.
What about range?
Ah, that old chestnut. AIM hasn’t said much about that yet, but we do know the battery will be split into four separate packs, which come together to provide 81kWh of total capacity.
I'm getting Daihatsu Copen vibes...
Us too. And there’s a bit of Mitsuoka Orochi in there, too. The styling is clearly very Japanese, and there’s a kind of cuteness to the rounded shape. But with the upward-opening doors and the glass roof, there’s also some Jetsons-style design in there. Not to mention a bit of drama.
The interior, meanwhile, looks quite classic and clean, with the brown leather and black microsuede. But the steering wheel clearly takes inspiration from Formula 1, and there’s a cool digital instrument display behind it.
So what's happening at Goodwood?
The AIM will be on display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which runs from July 13-16, making timed runs on the hillclimb as part of the First Glance category. It’ll be driven by none other than AIM president and CEO Yukinori Suzuki.
What has AIM said?
“The vision for the AIM EV Sport 01 was fast, and enjoyable to drive, while the mainstream trend for EVs is AWD, the character of this car called for a RWD configuration,” said Suzuki. “Having created our own series of advanced electric motors, the AIM EV Sport 01 is also the perfect way to showcase our expertise in advanced powertrain development. I am really excited to be personally driving the car up the hill at Goodwood this year!”
James Fossdyke - 5 Jul 2023