Japan’s 1,150 hp Aspark Owl Electric Hypercar Aims to Break the Nürburgring Record

“Mediocre” isn’t a common word when it comes to Japanese creations, and the positively mental Aspark Owl isn’t an outlier. The all-electric Japanese hypercar boasts 1,150 hp and 652 ft lbs of torque, thanks to quad motors, and its creators claim it will be the fastest-accelerating car on the planet. Now, the company is aiming to add a Nürburgring lap record to the marketing claims.

“[The] Aspark Owl performances are allowing us to aim [for] the Nürburgring record,” an Aspark rep told Top Gear. The current reigning EV champ at the iconic track? The 1,341 hp Nio EP9, which turned in a blistering 6:45:90, but Aspark rushes to note the Nio is a track-only beast, while the Owl will be road-legal.

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Aspark may not be blowing smoke, either. Last year, a prototype of the otherworldly Owl violently launched from zero to 60 in 1.89 seconds, running on race tires. Don’t believe it? Jump to 1:07 in the below video. (Looks like the Owl nearly runs out of asphalt and is about to find a perch in those trees, doesn’t it?)

For the skeptics who attribute the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it performance to the tire compounds, Aspark assures you the production version fitted with street shoes will be a mere .10 second slower.

The Owl’s all-carbon body and carbon fiber monocoque means it hardly tips the scales at 3,218 pounds, pretty featherweight for an EV about the size of an Aventador. Only 50 Owls will see production, each slated to fetch some $3.6 million, and although the final version will finally be revealed at the Dubai Motor Show in November of 2019, nonrefundable deposits starting at $500,000 are currently being accepted.

Regardless of whether the Owl nabs the ‘Ring’s top EV spot, the electric hypercar class is getting wonderfully crowded, with the Rimac C_Two and the Pininfarina PF0 also forthcoming.