Whenever an all-new manufacturer appears on the scene, it needs to not only have something special to set it apart, but also prove that it is serious and its first product is substantial. That’s why it may be hard for fledgling automakers like Drako Motors to be convincing from the get-go.
Jay Leno recently drove the Drako GTE all-electric hypercar, which is essentially the car the original Fisker Karma (on which it’s based) should have been. It has four individual electric motors (with a claimed combined total output of 1,200 horsepower), torque vectoring and the promise that it can hit a top speed of 206 mph (331 km/h).
It also retains the best part of the original Fisker model - its sleek low-slung sedan profile, which for many people was the best part about that car. And being all-electric, it’s frankly got the powertrain that the Karma deserved but it never received, since it was only sold as a plug-in hybrid.
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So the Drako GTE has solid bones and a great look, but is it a believable car? Well, it really needs to be because it costs nearly $1.3-million. And Jay Leno doesn’t seem convinced by the package - he doesn’t like the lack of physical door handles, the fact that you have to open the trunk to access the charge port and he says it doesn’t feel quite as quick as its claimed power figure suggests (but this may be due to the fact that it’s geared to achieve a high speed; nevertheless, it’s what he pointed out).
The GTE’s range of 250 miles (courtesy of a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery pack) doesn’t seem that impressive either - and since it has so much power, if you really drive it vigorously, even its makers admit you will drain it a lot quicker. The fact that it does have actual torque vectoring does make it more tantalizing, though, but Jay didn’t drive it on a twisty canyon road to put it to the test.
And if you read the comments below the video, you’ll see the wave of skepticism among viewers. It really appears as if there’s nothing especially remarkable about this car other than the claimed power figure and the seemingly exorbitant price tag.
