Steampunk Goes Electric

Cult German sports car-maker is returning with an electric roadster

- Colin Overland

JUST HOW GOOD IS THE Wiesmann Thunderball prototype? Put it this way. I warmed up for my drive in the electric two-seat roadster by driving one of the tiny German specialist's previous models, an MF5, which uses one of the best engines ever made: BMW's 555-hp twin-turbo V8. And even with the bar being set so high, the electric Thunderball proved to be engaging and exhilarating.

Billed as the world's first luxury electric roadster, it is a modern take on the classic formula: you sit low and well back, with the wind in your hair and a smile on your face as you revel in the directness of the steering and the immediacy of the throttle response, with 500 kW (680 hp) and 1,100 Nm going through the rear wheels, aided by a mechanical limited-slip differential. There is double-wish-bone front suspension, multi-link rear.