Japanese University Built The Eight-Wheeled Eliica

Japan built a car with eight wheels

Japanese have been at the height of incredible technology over the years. They are amongst the world pioneers in many tech thrusts and their advancements can never go unnoticed.

At Keio University, Dr. Hiroshi Shimizu set down to some piece of work at hand. Their desire was to create an eight-wheeled supercar that was electronically powered. They named it Eliica, an acronym for Electric Lithium-Ion Car.

Amazingly, it turned out to be a real car in real-world that could do 0-60 in 4.1 seconds and hit a top speed that was above the Ferrari Enzo. All the eight wheels received a motor each, responsible for power equivalent of 80 hp.

The eight small wheels that we chose instead of four large ones meant that the Eliica could have a lower floor and a better-balanced center of gravity. In the end, this is a huge supercar generating 640 horsepower.’

Being electric, this car doesn’t need any transmission, and therefore it is saved from the drag that comes with shifting gears. Even when Eliica recorded a staggering 230 mph, the lead developer Professor Hiroshi Shimizu, wanted it to clock 250 mph.

The building of Eliica was an experimental undertaking that aimed at evaluating exactly how well bigger cars with more wheels could take in electric power and utilize it. Ultimately, one of the assurances we can get is that from Japanese scholars, there is bound to be delighting developments as the world embraces EVs in larger numbers.