Hyundai is stepping up their electric vehicle efforts in the most exciting way possible with their introduction of the all-new RM20e.
Their latest go at high-performance electric vehicles was shown off at this year's Beijing Automotive Exhibition, with the prototype being completely road legal and drawing heavily from the brand's own electric race car, the Veloster N eTCR. In fact, the RM20e could pass as a heavily modified Veloster at first glance, but the similarities pretty much end there.
Gallery: Hyundai RM20e Revealed As Electric Hot Hatch With 800 Horsepower
The RM stands for "Racing Midship", referring to the vehicle's midship powertrain configuration, while the "20" denotes the 20th iteration of the performance RM projects started by Hyundai in 2012. The "e" means that it's obviously electric, and, together with the powertrain configuration, offers an “ideal balance and agility from a low polar-moment of inertia”. This means that you can expect excellent handling characteristics from an easily rotatable vehicle.
And that handling needs to be on point since Hyundai has packed an electric motor capable of 810 bhp and 708 lb-ft of torque. Zero to 62 miles per hour is said to be dispatched in less than 3 seconds, while a sprint to 124 miles per hour is done in 9.88 seconds. Top speed is limited to 155 miles per hour, but Hyundai says that the RM20e combines "racecar-like levels of performance, balance, braking, and grip while retaining daily-driver quietness, responsiveness, and road-going capability."
Hyundai's sharp new products:
The Hyundai RM20e also serves as a testing bed for new technologies and will help continue the development of the electrified RM platform with the help of Rimac - yes, the same guys behind the C_Two hypercar.