With 100 of the world’s billionaires living in India, we’re surprised that a supercar hasn’t emerged from there yet. Heck, the country is even strongly represented in motorsport with the Sahara Force India Formula 1 team. Mean Metal Motors seems to feel the same, so the startup group is looking to be the first to produce one.
According to NDTV Autos, Mean Metal Motors is currently developing the M-Zero, a hybrid supercar that will be developed by four global teams. Design teams from Italy and Portugal will tackle the body while the UK team will handle the analytics. The group in India will be responsible for the majority of the work, like the powertrain and chassis development.
The plan is to shoot for total power output higher than 500 horsepower. Founder Sarthak Paul would like to source the 4.0-liter AMG twin-turbocharged V8 for the project, but the process for nabbing one hasn’t begun. If they get one, that already puts them over the mark as the V8 gives the Mercedes AMG GT 510 hp. A combined electric motor will supplement this output with an extra 250 horsepower, if all goes to plan.
From the current renders, a major part of the design is the crosshair-like rear, which is there for more than just looks. Intended to work similarly as to how a plane corrects its yaw, this is said to counteract oversteer through the corners.
The team’s passion and vision seems to be in the right place, but its hard to get our hopes up. As stated in a video uploaded to the startup’s YouTube channel, the group decided to jump right to supercar after developing RC cars and Go Karts, which is ambitious at best. They’re currently looking to raise an initial $7 Million to build a prototype. If successful, the M-Zero will be manufactured in a Scandinavian plant and marketed towards Europe.
While lofty for a startup, the plan does have sound, realistic goals. Mean Metal has been pretty transparent in its intentions, addressing many of the questions that go into putting a project like this together. We won’t hold our breath, but we hope we’re wrong on this one.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.