“Cyber Dragon” – World Premiere of the APEX AP-0

APEX Motors has just unveiled its new Super Sports EV concept, the APEX AP-0 and nicknamed it the Cyber Dragon.

Like many other automakers, new company APEX Motors were set to launch their new electric sports car concept at the now cancelled Geneva Motor Show.

The re-scheduled launch of their project known as the APEX AP-0 happened at 4pm GMT on March 13, 2020 via the company’s YouTube channel.

The company behind this fully electric sports car concept is the Hong Kong owned APEX Motors, a company founded by brothers Jason Leung and Gary Leung which was launched in December 2019 with a grand event at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Hong Kong.

While a Hong Kong owned company, all design, development and manufacture of the APEX cars is conducted back in the UK.

Leading the design of the AP-0 super sports EV concept is UK designer Guy Colborne, who has previously worked as a car designer for brands like BMW, Pininfarina and Ford. Guy Colborne was also the lead designer of car company Elemental that produced the car concept RP1.

APEX Motors initially started by creating a character for the AP-0, which would become the design theme of the project. The dragon was chosen, symbolising good fortune and wealth, and so esteemed that during later Chinese imperial history, the Emperor of China was the only one permitted to have dragons on his house, clothing, or personal articles.

With the APEX AP-0 Guy has given the EV a ‘dragon face’ and it is particularly evident looking into the AP-0’s headlights or ‘eyes’ which are highlighted with a stylish halo light that seems to chase around the main iris of the light. With the integration of technology and character APEX have nicknamed the AP-0 the Cyber Dragon.

Moving around to the side of the car, fins or dragon like scales subtly protrude from the front wheel arches containing the Ap-0’s rear view cameras, eliminating the need for old world mirrors. The side of the car also reveals the cars lightweight structured carbon fibre chassis which has then been partially overlaid with a more free flowing shape to continue the flow of the dragon’s body. APEX are making great progress in showing, that through great design, EV’s can and should be exciting.

Technologically speaking, APEX have centred on a core theme of connectivity. With autonomous cars being talked of more each year APEX have placed a LiDAR system as one of the AP-0’s primary tech for the car’s autonomy. LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging and is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure variable distances to the car’s surrounds. Instead of trying to hide this system, APEX have embraced it and have used it to form part of the AP-0’s character with it leading the car’s tail like fin. This fin trailing all the way to the rear of the car has also created an opportunity to design a unique taillight shape in the form of a cross or sword which has also been embraced by the company for their logo.

Opening the scissor doors draws you inside towards the two seats that are designed with a feet up position much like a Formula 1 car. Apart from heightening the driving experience this positioning also goes towards keeping the AP-0’s centre of gravity as low as possible and helping the car’s under floor aerodynamic design. A low centre of gravity is also helped by floor mounting the AP-0’s 90 kWh battery pack. Looking forward, touchscreens are used to keep the functionality simple however traditional switches and features are found on the steering wheel to make access to the most used features immediately available.

The AP-0 produces 650bhp and with a kerb weight of 1200kg the car is said to produce a 0-62 mph (0-100 kph) time of just 2.3 seconds with a top speed of 190mph. The range of the AP-0 is said to be 320 miles on a single charge and with a CCS charger you can achieve an 80% charge in under 15 minutes.

The APEX AP-0 is expected to retail for around £150,000 + local taxes.

“To us, an automobile is not just a transportation, but also a form of experience and enjoyment”.

APEX Motors