It?s hard not to love an EV concept car that features a motorized door-and-roof combo that apparently was inspired by the opening of a rare orchid. Yet the Vanda Dendrobium, which has just taken its bow at the 2017 Geneva auto show, is targeting production reality, billing itself as Singapore?s ?first ever hypercar.?
Ordinarily we might file such claims in the folder marked Polite Skepticism, but the involvement of British racing outfit Williams does lend the project a much-needed measure of credence. The concept was constructed by Williams Advanced Engineering, sister business to the eponymous Formula 1 team, and the organization that created Jaguar?s aborted CX-75 hybrid supercar as well as the battery pack that currently powers the Formula E grid. While the show car is indeed a one-off, we?re assured there is serious ambition to turn it into limited-run reality.
Vanda Electrics, a Singaporean company that describes itself as an electrical mobility supplier, has previously created an electric minibike called the Motochimp. The company has commissioned the Dendrobium, the name coming from a Singapore-native orchid that apparently opens in the same way as the car?s synchronized door and roof unfastening. CEO Larissa Tan said Vanda?s parent company, Wong Fong Industries, has been looking to create an electric hypercar concept for nearly two decades but has been waiting for the available technology to catch up with its ambitions. We?re told that, if built, the production ca...