Monday, 27 April 2015

Mad Money: Top Marques Monaco Is the World’s Richest, Most Insane Auto Show

2015 Top Marques Monaco Supercar Show

Famed British playwright Somerset Maugham summed up Monaco perfectly when he labeled it “a sunny place for shady people.” Every April for the past dozen years, this petite, tax-free principality on the Mediterranean has been beckoning shady locals, oligarchs, and tax avoiders to offload some of their ill-gotten loot by welcoming them to Top Marques Monaco, dubbed “the world’s most-exclusive car show.” This year’s orgy of extravagance featured more than 40 mega-priced supercars, including the debut of the world’s first one-megawatt electric hypercar. Add to that such oddballs as a real-deal flying car from Slovakia, a Russian-modded Tesla with humming bumpers, and a Hungarian Ferrari being built by a former Kuwaiti and that’s powered by a 734-hp supercharged V-8 developed in Texas. Read on for more highlights from the world's wildest car show.

Toroidion 1MW

It may look like some cheesy ’80s home-build kit car, but Finland’s Toroidion 1MW packs some serious wattage. Like 1,000,000 watts. It is the first one-megawatt electric supercar, as indicated by the 1MW moniker. While it’s very much a concept, there’s plenty of cool technology lurking beneath that lump-of-Play-Doh exterior.
The fast-swap, high-capacity battery system is designed to dramatically extend the car’s 300-mile range - or allow it to compete at Le Mans running the entire 24 hours solely on electric power.
Toroidion founder and CEO Pasi Pannanen told us a production 1MW was at least three years away, although he projects 0-to-125-mph sprinting in five seconds, a top speed approaching 300mph and a £660,000 price tag. We doubt Elon will be losing much sleep.

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