Will South Korea’s Oullim Spirra be a suitable Tesla Roadster replacement?

By Stephen Edelstein Published June 13, 2014

Oullim Spirra EV — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Did the departure of the Tesla Roadster leave an electric sports car-shaped hole in your heart? You might want to consider a trip to Europe.

The Spirra, a sports car from South Korea’s Oullim Motors, is about to launch on the Continent, and there are plans for it to go electric.

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According to Autovisie (via Motor Authority), a group of businesspeople recently started Spirra Europe in the Netherlands with the goal of converting the Spirra into an electric car. It’s almost the reveres of VL Automotive’s plan to replace the electrified powertrains of Fisker Karmas with Chevy small-block V8s.

The stock Spirra is powered by a 2.7-liter twin-turbocharged V6 that’s rumored to make up to 600 horsepower, but Spirra Europe says its electric powertrain will match the gasoline version’s performance.

Electric power will come with the added bonus of all-wheel drive traction, replacing the gasoline Spirra’s rear-wheel drive layout. Whatever is under the hood, the styling remains somewhat generic, like an unlicensed video-game knockoff of an Acura NSX.

Spirra Europe hopes to unveil its creation next year at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, and sell it for 200,000 euros, which is about $273,000 at current exchange rates. Whether it will come to the U.S. is anyone’s guess.

Other than the Tesla Roadster, electric sports cars haven’t had a good track record so far. Detroit Electric sought to copy Tesla’s formula with the similarly Lotus Elise-based SP:01, but that effort appears to have stalled.

Even established carmakers have been flummoxed by the combination of eco-friendliness and performance. Mercedes-Benz pulled the plug on sales of the SLS AMG Electric Drive because its anticipated base price was too high, and the Audi R8 e-tron is in limbo.

Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

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