Dec 17, 2008

Marussia: Russian electric-powered hi-tech sportscar

Nikolay Fomenko, who is a popular Russian singer, TV-anchor and theatrical actor, and former FIA N-GT racing champion is now working to give Russia its very own electric sportscar – Marussia. The project will not use wing spars, but will instead concentrate on predominantly non-metal exchangeable bodies. Fomenko’s career in FIA Gran Turismo gave him some ideas for sports car making, which he put into practice with his Efim Ostrovsky to create the 240hp Marussia project.

The car is likely to use an engine and some other parts from Renault or Nissan, but it will remain essentially Russian in character. Fomenko is aiming at a 400km distance on a single charge by 2009. The biggest obstacle in the path will be the use of batteries; the cold Russian climate will dramatically reduce the efficiency of batteries. Fomenko sees the solution to this problem in a “nanotech project made at one of Russia’s big construction bureaus”.


Technical specifications of the car include a 3.5-l 6cylinder central engine, 80 liter fuel tank, a zero to 100 km/h dash in 5 seconds, and a host of gadgets including 4G Yota network to support 10 Mbps data transfer at speeds up to 120 km/h.

Via: RussiaToday