Volkswagen chief Martin Winterkorn has officially confirmed the German group’s plans for a new hypercar, which will be a successor to the Bugatti Veyron. The yet unnamed hypercar is still in initial conceptual engineering phase and is expected to be ready by the end of 2016.
Like the Veyron, the new Bugatti hypercar will be based on a lightweight carbon fibre monocoque chassis with a mid-engined layout. It will continue to use the 8.0-litre W16 quad-turbo engine, albeit in a highly tuned form. This engine, in conjunction with an electric powertrain, is expected to deliver over 1500 horsepower to all four wheels, giving the hypercar the capablity to hit speeds up to 460kmph, with the first 100kmph coming up in just 2 seconds!
The current crop of hybrid hypercars like the Ferrari LaFerrari, McLaren P1 and the Porsche 918 seems to have convinced Volkswagen that e-boosting hypercars is the way to go. However reports suggest that Bugatti will also offer a standard version of the hyper car with just a petrol engine. The new hypercar will eclipse the Veyron in terms of overall weight too, despite the addition of an electric powertrain.
Earlier rumours had suggested that the new hypercar will be called ‘Chiron’, though the company hasn’t confirmed this as of yet. With the production limited to just 450 units, the new hypercar will go on sale in early 2017.
