There’s something beguiling about this car. It reminds us of the Estoque: the four-seater Lamborghini that wasn’t meant to be. The Drako GTE EV is genuinely the first four-seater hypercar in the world, but the Koenigsegg Gemera stakes that claim rather embarrassingly – and if we ever stood the chance, we’d like to punch someone in the noggin at the Swedish firm for having been cheeky in doing so. This is a lot like being a soldier shooting a terrorist, after which the Lieutenant Colonel trailing behind gets awarded for it.
It’s no Tesla, and it wasn’t intended to be one. Drako is based in California, and it’s been christened with a simple name that screams sportiness: GTE. No tongue-twisters and ridiculous numericals. We’d say thank you, but no, thank you to those. The Drako opened its Chinese-like eyes to the world for the time at the Pebble Beach event in 2019. It looked inviting; it meant business.
The Drako GTE EV Looks Stunning
No matter how hard you try, it’s impossible not to like the Drako GTE. The unmistakable stance is that of a Staffordshire Bull Terrier ready to pounce on a rogue. It has the right amount of muscle in the right places, with a lot of slippery flowing surfaces. A grand tourer it certainly is, but hypercar DNA is what flows through its veins. The Drako is, in a way, like that chic you see in the gym every day: she’s slim with subtle muscle and makes you wonder if she’s the same gal doing Instagram Reels on “How to grow your booty bigger”. The ‘Coda Tronca’ rear-end is frightening enough to bully high-performance cars that intend on inching closer.
The Drako GTE makes 1200hp and 6500 lb-ft of torque – that’s enough to have you take a deep breath after you’ve stepped out of the car, and think about the Toyota Prius you once owned
The proportions couldn’t have been any better, and the three, huge air intakes in the bumper are low-set and intimidating, while the headlights remind us of the serious-faced emoji. Not a bad thing at all, but think of the moment you open your garage shutter, and you see a car that’s upset at you for parking it more than driving it. The rear diffuser is there to let tailing cars know that the Drako cannot be taken for granted. If the Drako GTE was from the “The Suicide Squad”, it’d be Harley Quinn. American cars have looked good for generations now, and the Drako GTE is no exception.
Inside The Drako GTE EV
Enter the Drako! The cabin is unlike any grand tourer you’ve seen. Alcantara and hand-stitched leather seats, expectedly, find their way inside. It’s sporty alright, but not Porsche sporty; more like Noble M600 sporty. Owners have the liberty to choose from different materials, colors and finishes. The steering is as modest as a polo neck t-shirt, but it does get some carbon-fiber trim on it. The dashboard is boring to look at – just like the Noble then. They haven’t poured sufficient interest into the cabin, and it’s evident. There’s a digital instrument cluster and a median tunnel that features carbon fiber with twist dials that look like they belong on a military aircraft. With these, the driver gets to control the front and rear power and torque distribution ratio, torque vectoring and driving modes like Dry, Rain, Track, Snow, Ice and Race. Think of you, your wife and your kids strapped against the seats, on Willow Springs International Speedway, like as if the G-forces were going to get the better of all of you.
Drako’s GTE Is Likely To Give You A Heart Attack
The Drako is a limited-production car, so you won’t be seeing too many of them; also, the GTE certainly does not share it chassis with the Fisker Karma. This thing can hit a top speed of 206mph, with power coming in from a 90kWh, floor-mounted battery pack – this, like all current-generation EVs, keeps the center of gravity as low as possible, with an electric motor at each corner, connected to independent direct-drive transmissions. Instead of traditional differentials, the Drako makes use of super-sophisticated software that helps put all the power down. With combined power, the Drako GTE makes 1200hp and 6500 lb-ft of torque – that’s enough to have you take a deep breath after you’ve stepped out of the car, and think about the Toyota Prius you once owned.
The Original: Drako GTE
Porsche’s Taycan and Audi’s e-Tron GT RS are amongst the quickest-accelerating cars on the planet, and it took the advent of high-performance electric motors and batteries to pull it off. EVs will give a new type of car enthusiast a reason to fall in love with cars. There’s no denying that internal combustion engines will continue to pull on your heartstrings, but EVs like these will pull your heart out. These cars are made to go faster without waking up the neighborhood. Tesla’s Model S may be the fastest-accelerating of the lot, but it’s not a patch on what a four-seat hypercar like the Drako GTE was originally designed to do, and we have none other than Dean Drako, the CEO of the company, to thank for that. We think he’s made history.
Source: Drako Motors
