The Hipercar by Ariel, an ultra-high performance electric sports car, has been officially unveiled.

After developing an utterly functional prototype, the British automaker Ariel Motor Company, which also makes the Ariel Atom, Nomad, and Ace motorcycles, plans to start modest volume manufacturing of the Hipercar.

Ariel Electric's Hipercar (High Performance Carbon Reduction) focuses on high performance, lightweight, agility, and usability. It also has zero emissions and a possible small turbine range extender.

The vehicle is built on a compact, connected aluminum chassis framework with aluminum front and rear subframes and a carbon fiber body.

The vehicle will be offered in both four-wheel drive and two-wheel drive, reaching 60 mph in 2.09 seconds and 100 mph in under 4.4 seconds, respectively. The maximum speed the Hipercar will go is 155 mph (250 kph). The offered top speed is enough to make Hipercar one of the fastest electric vehicles, but removing its limiter should make it climb higher on the list.

The car has a range of 150 miles (240 km), without a range extender, on a single charge thanks to its 800 Volt, 62kWh lithium-ion, heated and cooled battery pack.

One motor, each producing 295bhp (220kW) and 332 ft-lbs (450Nm) of torque, is mounted on each wheel of the Hipercar. The Hiper automobile will have a combined output of 1,180 horsepower (880 kW) in four-wheel drive and 590 bhp (440 kW) in two-wheel drive.

The vehicle's total torque will be 664 ft-lb (900 Nm) at the motor in the two-wheel drive and 1327 ft-lb (1,800 Nm) in the four-wheel drive.

The production vehicle weight of the Hipercar will be less than 3,086 pounds (1400 kg) for the two-wheel drive vehicle and 3.300 pounds (1500 kg) for the four-wheel drive vehicle.

Simon Saunders, director of Ariel, said, "We still have a lot of testing, tuning, and detail work to carry out over the next year or two prior to production, but what we are showing today is essentially what we intend to produce. Hipercar isn't just a milestone in vehicle design, it's a demonstration of what we can do as an industry."

Speaking about the price of Hipercar, Saunders continued, "The price of the four-wheel drive car with range extender on the road in the UK, with all taxes, will be under one million pounds ($1,155,665), and although expensive, we're determined to make it value for money".

The company already has orders for the car and is now taking further deposits.

This price tag makes Hipercar number one of the most expensive electric vehicles in the world.