Skip advert
Advertisement

Nemesis electric car review

Developed by a clean energy company, the Exige-based Nemesis claims 0-100mph in 8.5secs.

Evo rating
  • It's the future
  • But there's some niggles

Issue 152 of evo goes on sale today and in it we interview Dale Vince, the entrepreneur behind Ecotricity. Besides developing eco-friendly forms of energy, he’s also built his own electric supercar, the Nemesis. And he let Harry Metcalfe drive it.

To save you guessing, the Nemesis is a heavily modified Lotus Exige with all the conventional mechanicals removed and replaced with a couple of 125kw (168bhp) electric motors, belt reduction drives and a 200-kilogram battery pack.

Advertisement - Article continues below

To get moving, you first power up the car by flicking a simple switch on the dash. All sorts of electronic whirring noises start filtering through to the cabin from behind you before the dials in front of you sparkle into life. Next; flick a second switch that sends some more strange noises to the cabin, wait for a couple of final clicks and you’re ready to roll. Select either ‘forward’ or ‘reverse’ on the simple gear selector between the seats and off you go.

As soon as you start rolling you’re hit with another wall of strange sounds. The Nemesis is like no other car, not even a Tesla. Vince reckons a lot of the transmission whine comes from the belt-driven reduction drives. That may be, but all I can say is the Nemesis is a whole lot noisier than any other electric car I’ve driven. As speed builds, other noises take over but you’re always aware you’re driving something very different to anything else on the road today.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Advertisement - Article continues below

Performance feels suitably brisk but not as aggressive as you’d expect from a car with a claimed 0-100mph time of 8.5secs. I didn’t really get an opportunity to give the Nemesis a proper workout but, even so, it was obvious there was plenty of promise here. One thing that is unusual is the Nemesis doesn’t have any re-gen when you brake as engineers felt it wasn’t workable on a rear-drive electric car.

Ecotricity’s owner, Vince Dale, is on hand to talk me round his baby and is concerned they’ve limited the torque a bit too much at lower speeds and that’s why it doesn’t feel quite as quick off the line as he’d like, he also wants to sort out the range indicator, which is proving inaccurate at the moment. Still, it’s only three weeks since the Nemesis hit the road for the first time, so these sorts of niggles are understandable. That’s why evo will be back for a full road test in the car in a few weeks time, once these early niggles are sorted.

Read the full interview with Dale Vince in this month’s evo, on sale now

Specifications

EngineTwin electric motors
Max power338bhp
Max torqueNA
0-608.5secs (0-100mph)
Top speedNA
On sale2013
Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

VW Golf GTI Clubsport for £6k off – Akrapovic exhaust effectively thrown in free
Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport deal
News

VW Golf GTI Clubsport for £6k off – Akrapovic exhaust effectively thrown in free

The Volkswagen Golf GTI Clubsport in Mk8.5 guise makes for a tempting prospect at the right price
3 Jul 2025
New Alpine A290 Rallye is an electric car we actually want, but there's a catch
Alpine A290 Rallye
News

New Alpine A290 Rallye is an electric car we actually want, but there's a catch

The A290 has proven to be one of the best performance EVs yet, and now Alpine's taking it one step further with a rally variant
3 Jul 2025
Best used sports cars – proper performance cars for less than a new Golf GTI
Cheap sports cars
Best cars

Best used sports cars – proper performance cars for less than a new Golf GTI

With the sun shining and fuel prices palatable, now is the time to indulge your used sports car desires
1 Jul 2025