What has four electric motors, one seat, and can do at least 225 miles per hour in a straight line? No, not a fighter jet – although that would fit the electric motor bill if we counted the actuators for the plane’s various systems. It’s a Chinese EV, although it is camouflaged under a classic British emblem. The MG EXE181 is a concept car that will see the spotlight of the world stage on April 25 at the Beijing Auto Show.
In short, the EXE181 is Experimental Electric 181. The numerals represent the concept’s friction index of 0.181, one of the lowest of any car ever made. The teaser video uploaded by the SAIC Design Advanced London design studio on their Instagram account shows a superfluid missile blasting through a desert at 225 mph (362 kph) before releasing a pair of parachutes to bring it to a halt.
The steering yoke display shows four electric motors (one at each wheel, most likely), and the interior shots reveal a cockpit so crammed they’re not recommended for people with claustrophobia. They, the photos, let alone the driver’s seat itself, neatly tucked under a transparent canopy at the front of the concept car.
As far as air resistance goes, the EXE181 is a champion of aerodynamics, sitting right up there with the 2022 Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX (Cd 0.170), the 2000 General Motors Precept concept (0.160), and just a pinch above the super-slippery solar-powered 2020 Sunswift 7 (0.095). However, none of the above had an acceleration performance of 1.9 seconds for 0-62 mph (100 kph).
Photo: Instagram/@saic.design.advanced.london
Naturally, the Chinese-owned British carmaker doesn’t spill the whole beans on the concept’s alleged performance. Still, the figure above should indicate tremendous power and a very low eight (as low as it can be in a battery-electric car). The EXE181 is an homage to MG’s 100th anniversary and a nod to the 20th edition of the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix.
The EXE181 is also a tribute dedicated to the „Roaring Raindrop” MG EX181 from 1957, the bar-setting automobile that set a land speed record of 254.91mph (410.23kmph) at the Bonneville Salt flats in 1959, with Phill Hill at the wheel. The same driver became the first American F1 world champion two years later.
The MG concept is an exciting promise, if not more than that, and could turn into a silent menace to the well-established speed demons of today. The Rimac Nevera is the obvious elephant in the room, the only production EV that can run with 250+ mph hypercars. The Croatian missile is a 2.2-ton quad-motor AWD car with a Coefficient of drag of 0.3 (over 1.5 times greater than the EXE181).
If we stick to the same metric, the MG speed-chasing concept should have a high horsepower-per-ton ratio. For example, the Nevera sports a bhp of 878.14 (1,888 hp / 1,914 PS and 4,740 lbs / 2,150 kg). It blasted through the 0-60 mph (not 62!) in 1.81 seconds. However, since it’s only a concept, we’ll unlikely see the MG EXE181 running up and down a real patch of arrow-straight strip chasing the land-speed record.
After nearly two decades in news television, Răzvan turned to a different medium. He’s been a field journalist, a TV producer, and a seafarer but found that he feels right at home among petrolheads. Full profile
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