The Chinese are pulling the plug on the hybrid super sports car
Silk EV from Italy and the Chinese carmaker FAW had jointly developed electrified sports cars for the Chinese brand Hongqi. Walter de Silva contributed the design. The Hongqi S9 celebrated its premiere in Shanghai in 2021. The Chinese are now withdrawing from the project.
Chinese automaker Hongqi wanted to enter the fast-growing segment of ultra-luxury electric sports cars with its new "S" series models. The development partner Silk EV from Italy and the production partner FAW from China should help. The corresponding joint venture was already contractually sealed in February 2021. Investments in the joint venture are said to be over one billion euros.
Chinese don't want anymore
So that the Hongqi S models also look appropriate, ex-VW chief designer Walter de Silva drew them. Dallara was also on board as a further partner for chassis development. However, the Hongqi electric sports cars should not remain limited to China, but should be offered worldwide in the future. The ultra-luxury hypercar S9 was planned as the first model of this series. The Hongqi S9 should learn to walk in the Emilia-Romagna region, where Silk EV is headquartered. The production should also take place in Italy in a new factory. In addition to a production facility, a research and development center was also planned for the Italian site.
Nothing will come of it now, because FAW has withdrawn from the project. As the news agency Reuters reports, FAW no longer plans to produce in Italy. The Chinese have probably also completely withdrawn from the project. The remaining Silks Sports Car Company, which is owned by a Dublin company owned by a single shareholder whose traces are lost in the tax haven of the Cayman Islands, is already under investigation by the Italian tax authorities for possible subsidy fraud.
Hongqi S9 study presented in Shanghai
The Hongqi S9 presented at the Shanghai Auto Show in 2021 is strongly based on the S9 study presented at the IAA 2019. An S7 and an S5 as well as two other unspecified models have already been mentioned as further variants. The Hongqi S9 was initially to come with a plug-in hybrid powertrain and later as a pure electric version. Like the IAA concept, the China concept is equipped with a 4.0-liter V8 petrol engine in combination with a hybrid system with a total output of 1,400 hp. The S9 should be able to sprint from zero to 100 km/h in 1.9 seconds and have a top speed of over 400 km/h. The price was around 1.4 million dollars.
